What’s On Your Ballot?: Christy Chan, Artist, Filmmaker and Storyteller
What's On Your Ballot?: Reem Assil of Reem’s California Bakery
What’s On Your Ballot?: Inkza Angeles Bautista, Climate Activist
What’s On Your Ballot?: Adnan Khan, Incarcerated Peoples' Advocate
What's On Your Ballot?: Stephan Pastis, Cartoonist of 'Pearls Before Swine'
What's On Your Ballot?: Rexy Tapia, Activist and Drag Performer
What's On Your Ballot?: Usha Srinivasan, Event Producer and Dancer
What’s On Your Ballot?: Artist Lava Thomas
What’s On Your Ballot?: Ruby Ibarra, Rapper and COVID-19 Researcher
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In 1993 she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/16759/wait-what-my-coworker-was-a-voice-over-hyperventilator-for-jurassic-park\">hyperventilated in \u003cem>Jurassic Park\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/247beada39b88ea5759db1f51dba05cf?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"emmaruthless","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"pop","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"bayareabites","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"food","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"liveblog","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Emma Silvers | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/247beada39b88ea5759db1f51dba05cf?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/247beada39b88ea5759db1f51dba05cf?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/esilvers"},"edayu":{"type":"authors","id":"11391","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11391","found":true},"name":"Eda Yu","firstName":"Eda","lastName":"Yu","slug":"edayu","email":"eda.cyu@gmail.com","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":"Eda Yu is a freelance writer and arts and culture journalist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her work centers the intersection of culture and identity, and her writing has appeared on platforms like VICE, Paper Magazine, and Complex. Follow her latest on Instagram and Twitter @edacyu.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6dac2abe6c01e7b538d29f9c902136eb?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/edacyu/","linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Eda Yu | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6dac2abe6c01e7b538d29f9c902136eb?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6dac2abe6c01e7b538d29f9c902136eb?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/edayu"},"ogpenn":{"type":"authors","id":"11491","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11491","found":true},"name":"Pendarvis Harshaw","firstName":"Pendarvis","lastName":"Harshaw","slug":"ogpenn","email":"ogpenn@gmail.com","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":["arts"],"title":"Columnist and Host, Rightnowish","bio":"Pendarvis Harshaw is the host of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/rightnowish\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em>\u003c/a> on KQED-FM, a columnist at KQED Arts, and the author of \u003ci>OG Told Me,\u003c/i> a memoir about growing up in Oakland.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/093d33baff5354890e29ad83d58d2c49?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"ogpenn","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"bayareabites","roles":["author"]},{"site":"hiphop","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Pendarvis Harshaw | KQED","description":"Columnist and Host, Rightnowish","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/093d33baff5354890e29ad83d58d2c49?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/093d33baff5354890e29ad83d58d2c49?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/ogpenn"},"maddycliff":{"type":"authors","id":"11725","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11725","found":true},"name":"Maddy Clifford","firstName":"Maddy","lastName":"Clifford","slug":"maddycliff","email":"maddycliff@gmail.com","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":"Maddy Clifford is an Oakland-based writer, artist, and activist. She has a notable career highlighted by her eight-year tenure as a Poet in Residence at the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center. Following this, Maddy released a solo album titled \"downCHANTS\" and composed a forty-minute musical score for the aerial dance piece \"Apparatus of Repair\" in collaboration with Flyaway Productions. Her latest project is a video-podcast called \"What’s Pimpin’?\" produced with KQED Arts. Maddy's written contributions can be found in Prism Reports, Truthout and 48hills.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a90ce07df8d231f24acf7ea72e94e394?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"@mad_lines","facebook":"https://www.facebook.com/MADlinesmusic/","instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/mad.lines/","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddy-clifford-65ba7729/","sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Maddy Clifford | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a90ce07df8d231f24acf7ea72e94e394?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a90ce07df8d231f24acf7ea72e94e394?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/maddycliff"}},"breakingNewsReducer":{},"campaignFinanceReducer":{},"firebase":{"requesting":{},"requested":{},"timestamps":{},"data":{},"ordered":{},"auth":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"authError":null,"profile":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"listeners":{"byId":{},"allIds":[]},"isInitializing":false,"errors":[]},"navBarReducer":{"navBarId":"arts","fullView":true,"showPlayer":false},"navMenuReducer":{"menus":[{"key":"menu1","items":[{"name":"News","link":"/","type":"title"},{"name":"Politics","link":"/politics"},{"name":"Science","link":"/science"},{"name":"Education","link":"/educationnews"},{"name":"Housing","link":"/housing"},{"name":"Immigration","link":"/immigration"},{"name":"Criminal Justice","link":"/criminaljustice"},{"name":"Silicon Valley","link":"/siliconvalley"},{"name":"Forum","link":"/forum"},{"name":"The California Report","link":"/californiareport"}]},{"key":"menu2","items":[{"name":"Arts & Culture","link":"/arts","type":"title"},{"name":"Critics’ Picks","link":"/thedolist"},{"name":"Cultural Commentary","link":"/artscommentary"},{"name":"Food & Drink","link":"/food"},{"name":"Bay Area Hip-Hop","link":"/bayareahiphop"},{"name":"Rebel Girls","link":"/rebelgirls"},{"name":"Arts Video","link":"/artsvideos"}]},{"key":"menu3","items":[{"name":"Podcasts","link":"/podcasts","type":"title"},{"name":"Bay Curious","link":"/podcasts/baycurious"},{"name":"Rightnowish","link":"/podcasts/rightnowish"},{"name":"The Bay","link":"/podcasts/thebay"},{"name":"On Our Watch","link":"/podcasts/onourwatch"},{"name":"Mindshift","link":"/podcasts/mindshift"},{"name":"Consider This","link":"/podcasts/considerthis"},{"name":"Political Breakdown","link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown"}]},{"key":"menu4","items":[{"name":"Live Radio","link":"/radio","type":"title"},{"name":"TV","link":"/tv","type":"title"},{"name":"Events","link":"/events","type":"title"},{"name":"For Educators","link":"/education","type":"title"},{"name":"Support KQED","link":"/support","type":"title"},{"name":"About","link":"/about","type":"title"},{"name":"Help Center","link":"https://kqed-helpcenter.kqed.org/s","type":"title"}]}]},"pagesReducer":{},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"arts_13887673":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887673","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887673","score":null,"sort":[1602860458000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-christy-chan-artist-filmmaker-and-storyteller","title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Christy Chan, Artist, Filmmaker and Storyteller","publishDate":1602860458,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Christy Chan, Artist, Filmmaker and Storyteller | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">F\u003c/span>or Richmond-based artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.christychan.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Christy Chan\u003c/a>, this fraught political moment is no surprise. The rampant racism, xenophobia and structural inequities that have become impossible to ignore signify less of a left turn and more of a continuation down the path the United States began to forge more than 400 years ago. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a moment that’s been a long time coming,” Chan tells me. “We have never been post-racial.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That much became clear to Chan as a young girl growing up in Virginia in a family of Chinese immigrants and experiencing what she calls “everyday Southern white supremacy, racism and the KKK.” It’s an experience that has influenced her work as an artist; multimedia pieces that fluctuate between video, performance and storytelling to explore race, power and connection. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we near Election Day, Chan spoke with me about the impacts of white supremacy, the need to cultivate collective empathy, and the power of art to parse complicated issues beyond binary thinking. \u003ci>—Montse Reyes\u003c/i>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,KQED 2020 California Voter Guide: All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png] \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the things that are bubbling up are things that were bubbling far before Trump. And the stakes are very high, but I try to remind myself that these have always been the stakes, especially with racial justice. It’s just that we’re talking about it differently and we have someone in the presidency who is openly racist. But he’s not new. He’s, from my perspective, a natural creation of our system in our culture. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But we’re also in a unicorn moment, because this is a moment where we can collectively say “No, I don’t want this for us.” It’s a moment of reckoning. It’s not comfortable. This election is going to be an even more telling moment of who do we choose? Who do we want to be?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need leadership that recognizes that the U.S. is an apartheid system that is structured to harm Black Americans. If a leader cannot recognize this basic fact, they cannot take steps to change it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the conversations circling around this election is white supremacy, often framed as if the last four years alone have led to a resurgence in white supremacy. But given your research into white supremacist activity and your personal experience with racism in varying forms since childhood, how do you respond when folks contextualize it in this way? How do you interpret and process that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know that I’m interpreting it that differently than I did prior to the past four years. What I am interpreting and questioning differently is the public response to the white supremacy. It’s amazing to see an intersectional movement coming together to take an anti-racist stance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13888011\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Christy Chan: 'We have someone in the presidency who is openly racist. But he’s not new. He’s a natural creation of our system in our culture.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13888011\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christy Chan: ‘We have someone in the presidency who is openly racist. But he’s not new. He’s a natural creation of our system in our culture.’ \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What concerns me about the current movement is that our capitalistic system is based on white supremacy and exploitation, and I don’t hear many white Americans—white liberals who are supposedly part of the movement—questioning how they participate in white supremacy. I only hear people saying that it’s somebody else. And if it’s always somebody else, then who is it? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just the KKK that created white supremacy, white supremacy created the KKK. America created the KKK. So I would like to see, not just as an artist but as a citizen, the conversations in this movement go deeper, take on more intimacy, and take on more listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s assume Joe Biden is elected. That means we’ve only solved one of the 5,000 problems that affect racial equality in this country, right? I think this can be a really beautiful movement. But the participation needs to happen on a really meaningful level, beyond the symbolic. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Last year, your public art piece \u003cem>Inside Out\u003c/em> was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13864750/censored-critiques-of-trump-speak-loudly-in-richmond-public-artwork\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">censored by the City of Richmond\u003c/a> because some of the submissions were critical of Trump and his policies. Right now, we’re talking a lot about how people are trying to make their voices heard, whether it’s through voting, social media or protests. How can art provide an outlet for that expression and either allow folks to make their voices heard or bring the conversation to the forefront?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13864750']The question of who gets to have a voice is essentially the battleground of our culture. Not just in art, but in general. One of the reasons I chose to illuminate the censorship in my project last year was that I wanted to communicate that the narrative was incomplete. There is a tradition in American culture of only giving certain voices control of the narrative, even when the narrative is about people of color. When the censorship happened, even if I was not able to project the perspectives of people of color, I just wanted to project the fact that they were being omitted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13888010\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"CHristy Chan: 'Let’s assume Joe Biden is elected. That means we’ve only solved one of the 5,000 problems that affect racial equality in this country, right? '\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13888010\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">CHristy Chan: ‘Let’s assume Joe Biden is elected. That means we’ve only solved one of the 5,000 problems that affect racial equality in this country, right? ‘ \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Making art, participating in art projects and being a citizen—they all require patience and advocacy. As an artist, I want to believe that art has the capacity to invite people to become more engaged. I think art can’t necessarily solve problems, but it can help create meaning around those shared problems that we have. Art projects and looking at art can provide psychological space for people to re-examine their belief systems, and sometimes to feel like they’re less alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art can potentially be an outlet for the public, but we need institutions to be more courageous, and fund and show more works by artists of color who are addressing critical issues on race, class and inequality. We need institutions to take risks and to curate from a position of respect and familiarity with subjects such as racism. To that end, more museums, film festivals and art commissions need to have people of color in positions of power. Otherwise the artists who are being curated are doing the heavy lifting of providing education on diversity whilst also trying to create meaningful art. That’s too many hats. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s 2020, and I want to see true commitment from major institutions that opening conversations on racial inequality is a priority. How can anyone with power be witnessing the potential for change right now and not participate in a meaningful way? If someone doesn’t want to use that power for that purpose, then they need to make room for someone who does. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A lot of your work seems to be about exploring dialogue, relationships and connection across some element of difference. Right now, there is a lot of emphasis on dialogue and finding ways to connect as things get more divisive. In your art, what is the unique value in that for you, and is there ever a limit?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For sure. I don’t believe in neutrality. I don’t believe in unconditional unity. I think one of the things that’s happened is sometimes there’s a false equivalency between what is said on the left and the right. If part of the debate from the extreme right is that many of us are not human beings, they don’t get to debate that. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of my art is about connection, but I’m more interested in people who are underrepresented having a chance to be seen and heard. I’m not necessarily trying to amplify the voices of the oppressor or the oppressors. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I find it to be a transformative process, simply to be the narrator of one’s own story. That’s one of the reasons I’ve done projects that have a lot of community engagement, because when people get to narrate their own stories, that’s subverting power in a way. It’s narrative justice. Before I was a practicing artist, reading the works of artists and writers of color and seeing the artworks of visual artists of color showed [me] that there was a way forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art makes it more interesting, more poetic, more cathartic, more communal to talk about the awful things. Art doesn’t play by the rules of the Electoral College, of whiteness, of gender, of heteronormativity. Making art is a messy process, and being a citizen is also a messy process. They both require magical thinking, and so many of the systems in our culture are set up as binary, with no room for the people in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13888012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Christy Chan: 'There’s a false equivalency between what is said on the left and the right. If part of the debate from the extreme right is that many of us are not human beings, they don’t get to debate that.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13888012\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christy Chan: ‘There’s a false equivalency between what is said on the left and the right. If part of the debate from the extreme right is that many of us are not human beings, they don’t get to debate that.’ \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is your relationship to voting? What does it mean to you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voting is about having a voice. I’m Chinese American. I vote with the awareness that I’m a member of a minority group that has been traditionally assigned silence and passivity by white America. This stereotype and misuse of Asian Americans as a political wedge perpetuates a model minority myth that goes back to the 1870s, when Southern plantation owners were documented as strategizing that Black, Chinese and Native American people needed to be kept apart so that their common interests for human rights would not be united. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To put it simply, it’s a white script and white fantasy that Asian American voters don’t also have a dog in this fight. I don’t accept invisibility, because it dehumanizes Asian Americans, it dehumanizes my own family, and only serves the interest of white supremacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My relationship to voting is that it’s a responsibility. I see my act of voting as hiring someone to unfuck the future, and that person better be up for the job. There are people who died for our right to vote knowing that they might not ever vote themselves. So we’re never just voting for ourselves. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Bay Area, I feel like California takes the lead on so many things, like emissions, climate change and gay marriage. I’d love to see the Bay Area take the lead on reparations, because like every other state in this country, there’s been theft of land and redlining. Present-day Marin County has some of the most discriminatory, aggressive and racist policies against fair housing and transportation. And that’s not being addressed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would love to see structural equality replace structural inequality. We need to cultivate empathy. If you care about someone, then their problems are legitimate. Their problems are your problems. And right now, I think what’s hard to watch is this attitude that is so prevalent in our culture that as long as it’s not your problem, you don’t have to care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our culture and society were founded on independence and rebelling against authority. And those are perfectly fine, but we’re missing the fundamentals of interdependence. The ideals America was culturally founded on don’t work anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Christy Chan \u003ca href=\"https://www.christychan.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i> \u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Growing up in the south, in a family of Chinese immigrants, gave Christy Chan a front-row seat to the country's racism.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705019977,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":36,"wordCount":2128},"headData":{"title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Christy Chan, Artist, Filmmaker and Storyteller | KQED","description":"Growing up in the south, in a family of Chinese immigrants, gave Christy Chan a front-row seat to the country's racism.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Christy Chan, Artist, Filmmaker and Storyteller","datePublished":"2020-10-16T15:00:58.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:39:37.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Montse Reyes","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/arts/13887673/whats-on-your-ballot-christy-chan-artist-filmmaker-and-storyteller","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">F\u003c/span>or Richmond-based artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.christychan.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Christy Chan\u003c/a>, this fraught political moment is no surprise. The rampant racism, xenophobia and structural inequities that have become impossible to ignore signify less of a left turn and more of a continuation down the path the United States began to forge more than 400 years ago. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a moment that’s been a long time coming,” Chan tells me. “We have never been post-racial.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That much became clear to Chan as a young girl growing up in Virginia in a family of Chinese immigrants and experiencing what she calls “everyday Southern white supremacy, racism and the KKK.” It’s an experience that has influenced her work as an artist; multimedia pieces that fluctuate between video, performance and storytelling to explore race, power and connection. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we near Election Day, Chan spoke with me about the impacts of white supremacy, the need to cultivate collective empathy, and the power of art to parse complicated issues beyond binary thinking. \u003ci>—Montse Reyes\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,KQED 2020 California Voter Guide: All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the things that are bubbling up are things that were bubbling far before Trump. And the stakes are very high, but I try to remind myself that these have always been the stakes, especially with racial justice. It’s just that we’re talking about it differently and we have someone in the presidency who is openly racist. But he’s not new. He’s, from my perspective, a natural creation of our system in our culture. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But we’re also in a unicorn moment, because this is a moment where we can collectively say “No, I don’t want this for us.” It’s a moment of reckoning. It’s not comfortable. This election is going to be an even more telling moment of who do we choose? Who do we want to be?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need leadership that recognizes that the U.S. is an apartheid system that is structured to harm Black Americans. If a leader cannot recognize this basic fact, they cannot take steps to change it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the conversations circling around this election is white supremacy, often framed as if the last four years alone have led to a resurgence in white supremacy. But given your research into white supremacist activity and your personal experience with racism in varying forms since childhood, how do you respond when folks contextualize it in this way? How do you interpret and process that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know that I’m interpreting it that differently than I did prior to the past four years. What I am interpreting and questioning differently is the public response to the white supremacy. It’s amazing to see an intersectional movement coming together to take an anti-racist stance. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13888011\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Christy Chan: 'We have someone in the presidency who is openly racist. But he’s not new. He’s a natural creation of our system in our culture.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13888011\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Chair_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christy Chan: ‘We have someone in the presidency who is openly racist. But he’s not new. He’s a natural creation of our system in our culture.’ \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What concerns me about the current movement is that our capitalistic system is based on white supremacy and exploitation, and I don’t hear many white Americans—white liberals who are supposedly part of the movement—questioning how they participate in white supremacy. I only hear people saying that it’s somebody else. And if it’s always somebody else, then who is it? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just the KKK that created white supremacy, white supremacy created the KKK. America created the KKK. So I would like to see, not just as an artist but as a citizen, the conversations in this movement go deeper, take on more intimacy, and take on more listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s assume Joe Biden is elected. That means we’ve only solved one of the 5,000 problems that affect racial equality in this country, right? I think this can be a really beautiful movement. But the participation needs to happen on a really meaningful level, beyond the symbolic. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Last year, your public art piece \u003cem>Inside Out\u003c/em> was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13864750/censored-critiques-of-trump-speak-loudly-in-richmond-public-artwork\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">censored by the City of Richmond\u003c/a> because some of the submissions were critical of Trump and his policies. Right now, we’re talking a lot about how people are trying to make their voices heard, whether it’s through voting, social media or protests. How can art provide an outlet for that expression and either allow folks to make their voices heard or bring the conversation to the forefront?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13864750","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The question of who gets to have a voice is essentially the battleground of our culture. Not just in art, but in general. One of the reasons I chose to illuminate the censorship in my project last year was that I wanted to communicate that the narrative was incomplete. There is a tradition in American culture of only giving certain voices control of the narrative, even when the narrative is about people of color. When the censorship happened, even if I was not able to project the perspectives of people of color, I just wanted to project the fact that they were being omitted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13888010\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"CHristy Chan: 'Let’s assume Joe Biden is elected. That means we’ve only solved one of the 5,000 problems that affect racial equality in this country, right? '\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13888010\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Plants.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">CHristy Chan: ‘Let’s assume Joe Biden is elected. That means we’ve only solved one of the 5,000 problems that affect racial equality in this country, right? ‘ \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Making art, participating in art projects and being a citizen—they all require patience and advocacy. As an artist, I want to believe that art has the capacity to invite people to become more engaged. I think art can’t necessarily solve problems, but it can help create meaning around those shared problems that we have. Art projects and looking at art can provide psychological space for people to re-examine their belief systems, and sometimes to feel like they’re less alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art can potentially be an outlet for the public, but we need institutions to be more courageous, and fund and show more works by artists of color who are addressing critical issues on race, class and inequality. We need institutions to take risks and to curate from a position of respect and familiarity with subjects such as racism. To that end, more museums, film festivals and art commissions need to have people of color in positions of power. Otherwise the artists who are being curated are doing the heavy lifting of providing education on diversity whilst also trying to create meaningful art. That’s too many hats. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s 2020, and I want to see true commitment from major institutions that opening conversations on racial inequality is a priority. How can anyone with power be witnessing the potential for change right now and not participate in a meaningful way? If someone doesn’t want to use that power for that purpose, then they need to make room for someone who does. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A lot of your work seems to be about exploring dialogue, relationships and connection across some element of difference. Right now, there is a lot of emphasis on dialogue and finding ways to connect as things get more divisive. In your art, what is the unique value in that for you, and is there ever a limit?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For sure. I don’t believe in neutrality. I don’t believe in unconditional unity. I think one of the things that’s happened is sometimes there’s a false equivalency between what is said on the left and the right. If part of the debate from the extreme right is that many of us are not human beings, they don’t get to debate that. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A lot of my art is about connection, but I’m more interested in people who are underrepresented having a chance to be seen and heard. I’m not necessarily trying to amplify the voices of the oppressor or the oppressors. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I find it to be a transformative process, simply to be the narrator of one’s own story. That’s one of the reasons I’ve done projects that have a lot of community engagement, because when people get to narrate their own stories, that’s subverting power in a way. It’s narrative justice. Before I was a practicing artist, reading the works of artists and writers of color and seeing the artworks of visual artists of color showed [me] that there was a way forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Art makes it more interesting, more poetic, more cathartic, more communal to talk about the awful things. Art doesn’t play by the rules of the Electoral College, of whiteness, of gender, of heteronormativity. Making art is a messy process, and being a citizen is also a messy process. They both require magical thinking, and so many of the systems in our culture are set up as binary, with no room for the people in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13888012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Christy Chan: 'There’s a false equivalency between what is said on the left and the right. If part of the debate from the extreme right is that many of us are not human beings, they don’t get to debate that.'\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13888012\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/ChristyChan.Balcony.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christy Chan: ‘There’s a false equivalency between what is said on the left and the right. If part of the debate from the extreme right is that many of us are not human beings, they don’t get to debate that.’ \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is your relationship to voting? What does it mean to you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Voting is about having a voice. I’m Chinese American. I vote with the awareness that I’m a member of a minority group that has been traditionally assigned silence and passivity by white America. This stereotype and misuse of Asian Americans as a political wedge perpetuates a model minority myth that goes back to the 1870s, when Southern plantation owners were documented as strategizing that Black, Chinese and Native American people needed to be kept apart so that their common interests for human rights would not be united. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To put it simply, it’s a white script and white fantasy that Asian American voters don’t also have a dog in this fight. I don’t accept invisibility, because it dehumanizes Asian Americans, it dehumanizes my own family, and only serves the interest of white supremacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My relationship to voting is that it’s a responsibility. I see my act of voting as hiring someone to unfuck the future, and that person better be up for the job. There are people who died for our right to vote knowing that they might not ever vote themselves. So we’re never just voting for ourselves. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the Bay Area, I feel like California takes the lead on so many things, like emissions, climate change and gay marriage. I’d love to see the Bay Area take the lead on reparations, because like every other state in this country, there’s been theft of land and redlining. Present-day Marin County has some of the most discriminatory, aggressive and racist policies against fair housing and transportation. And that’s not being addressed. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I would love to see structural equality replace structural inequality. We need to cultivate empathy. If you care about someone, then their problems are legitimate. Their problems are your problems. And right now, I think what’s hard to watch is this attitude that is so prevalent in our culture that as long as it’s not your problem, you don’t have to care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our culture and society were founded on independence and rebelling against authority. And those are perfectly fine, but we’re missing the fundamentals of interdependence. The ideals America was culturally founded on don’t work anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Christy Chan \u003ca href=\"https://www.christychan.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/i> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887673/whats-on-your-ballot-christy-chan-artist-filmmaker-and-storyteller","authors":["byline_arts_13887673"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_74","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_7573","arts_10112","arts_10278","arts_5826","arts_3652","arts_2479","arts_901","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13888013","label":"arts"},"arts_13887786":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887786","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887786","score":null,"sort":[1602774019000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-reem-assil-of-reems-california-bakery","title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Reem Assil of Reem’s California Bakery","publishDate":1602774019,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Reem Assil of Reem’s California Bakery | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">R\u003c/span>eem Assil opened Reem’s California in 2017, inspired by Arab street corner bakeries and the vibrant communities surrounding them. The Palestinian-Syrian chef descirbes Reem’s as “a place where Arabs could feel celebrated and proud” during a post-9/11 world in which many Arab communities were threatened, attacked, and forced to hide their identities as Mediterranean or Greek. The bakery was also created to serve as a space for the social justice community where people could meet, strategize, and enjoy a good meal. Says Assil, “You come from Reem’s, you come from the whole movement.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prior to founding Reem’s, Assil was engaged in political activism and community organizing for many years. She worked for a decade as a labor and community organizer at SEIU Local 1877 and East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), where she fought for the dignity and equality of workers in the Bay Area. In the face of the pandemic, Assil has transformed Reem’s Oakland location into a kitchen that currently feeds more than 10,000 people in need every month, and hopes to transition the bakery into a worker owned cooperative.\u003cem>—Sam K. Lew\u003c/em> \u003c/span>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a climate that is very polarized. I worry about that because there is a whole generation, particularly a younger generation, that is really galvanized but has no institutions to plug into. What happens when you have a group of people who are galvanized but not organized? Because of COVID, folks are stuck in front of social media and that becomes their only way to relate to the world, which doesn’t necessarily affect the change that we want. However, I do think there are communities on the very local level who are doing a good job of creating institutions that are protecting their own. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As a Bay Area chef and restaurant owner, what is the importance of the food industry in this current moment? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The one thing that I’ve really tried to push on my fellow chefs, especially to those who are business owners, is that it’s not about the business owner right now, although certainly we’ve been impacted. It’s about the communities that we live in and our workers and this economy that is crumbling. While I would appreciate government assistance, I would rather see policies that will lift all of us up. Sometimes, I feel like the advocacy is more narrow-minded on a national level about what it would take to save restaurants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831.jpg\" alt=\"Reem Assil prepares meals for The Unity Council to distribute to those in need of food. The Unity Council is a non-profit organization that provides assistance for low-income children, families and immigrants.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887183\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reem Assil and Karl Greene prepare meals for The Unity Council to distribute to those in need of food. The Unity Council is a non-profit organization that provides assistance for low-income children, families and immigrants. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There is a tremendous opportunity to redefine restaurants’ role in our communities as economic engines, as political stakeholders, as teachers, as organizers. Why not use this moment to organize folks in the workplace? Business owners may be afraid of doing that, but we have to give something up to make this work. Reem’s is transitioning to a worker ownership, shared-governance structure. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even before we talked about making Reem’s into a co-op, we had always built a model around employing people with the most barriers: hiring people of color, formerly incarcerated folks, and undocumented people—especially when the refugee population surged. It’s a place where people who were overlooked get a chance and get paid well. Our wages were higher than the living wage, and we didn’t create the same hierarchies of the food world. Whether you were the dishwasher or the line cook, Reem’s was about providing a place of refuge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’ve been engaged in political activism throughout many elections, including during the Bush administration. What keeps you going, in spite of burnout or cynicism? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve been part of political campaigns where we’ve seen the changes. I’ve seen the power of good old-fashioned door knocking. The act of talking to my fellow citizens is honestly the more transformative piece of the work than the actual outcome of the campaign. I’ve been part of campaigns where we’ve won and ones that we haven’t won, but it was still powerful because you build relationships with your community and you get clearer about what moves us into a better future. It’s really about the face-to-face organizing and strategizing. It’s lovely to win, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796.jpg\" alt=\"Restaurant owner Reem Assil sits in front of Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020. Assil closed the restaurant's Fruitvale location to the public and now uses it to provide food for vulnerable communities affected by the 2020 global pandemic. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Restaurant owner Reem Assil sits in front of Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020. Assil closed the restaurant’s Fruitvale location to the public and now uses it to provide food for vulnerable communities affected by the 2020 global pandemic. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Electoral work is just one tool in our toolkit as we fight for a more just and equitable world. What are some other tools that we can use during and beyond the election?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We should be taking care of one another. One of the most inspiring things of this moment is the mutual aid efforts that have popped up. We can’t really start a movement unless we get our basic needs met. It’s hard to tell people who have four jobs and who don’t have healthcare to go out and vote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Reem’s, we’ve been partnering with SF New Deal and the World Central Kitchen to provide meals to people who need it. We make about 10,000 meals a month. We’re working with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center and the Palestinian Youth Movement to get meals to low-income Arab families. Restaurants could be feeding people and benefitting from it if we were subsidized by the government. Can you imagine if restaurants had structures to do this? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Your work lies at the intersections of borders, nations, people—it is deeply international. What does this look like for you in the face of the election while engaging in local work? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Particularly around food sovereignty, my work has always been internationalist. I’m an extension of the diaspora and of home. As a Palestian and as a Syrian, I try to keep the narrative of my people front and center. That’s important for their fight: to be seen and not to be invisibilized. I know the more I can connect the local with the foreign, the more success we’ll have. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808.jpg\" alt=\"Restaurant owner Reem Assil at Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887178\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Restaurant owner Reem Assil at Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The reality is that on the foreign policy level, the militarization of the U.S. is not going to change with the Democratic party. If you think about the Obama regime, his immigration policy was horrible, Guantanamo didn’t get closed down, the troops were still abroad. The system is much bigger than who is in the seat of the president. But some things do change when people in power are pressured. I think about Apartheid South Africa when we decided to engage in the boycott. That was the result of organizing that impacted foreign policy. So we have to keep that pressure until—as we say in organizing—the person in power will move on something because it’s too expensive for them not to. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I hope that we can use the situation to politicize folks and help them understand why it’s important to build. No matter who wins, I hope this moment galvanizes people to do the work and know what’s at stake. Now is not the time to be complacent. We’re going to need everything we’ve built in this time of crisis to forge a new path forward and to hold elected officials accountable whoever they may be—or to take it from them. And the more we can let go of our grasp to this idea of democracy—because we’ve never truly had democracy—the more we can actually build the democratic models we want to see.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn more about Reem Assil and her bakery \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/about\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Palestinian-Syrian chef discusses the importance of face-to-face, in-person organizing. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705019981,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":23,"wordCount":1568},"headData":{"title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Reem Assil of Reem’s California Bakery | KQED","description":"The Palestinian-Syrian chef discusses the importance of face-to-face, in-person organizing. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What's On Your Ballot?: Reem Assil of Reem’s California Bakery","datePublished":"2020-10-15T15:00:19.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:39:41.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Food","sourceUrl":"/food/","sticky":false,"nprByline":"Sam K. Lew","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/arts/13887786/whats-on-your-ballot-reem-assil-of-reems-california-bakery","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">R\u003c/span>eem Assil opened Reem’s California in 2017, inspired by Arab street corner bakeries and the vibrant communities surrounding them. The Palestinian-Syrian chef descirbes Reem’s as “a place where Arabs could feel celebrated and proud” during a post-9/11 world in which many Arab communities were threatened, attacked, and forced to hide their identities as Mediterranean or Greek. The bakery was also created to serve as a space for the social justice community where people could meet, strategize, and enjoy a good meal. Says Assil, “You come from Reem’s, you come from the whole movement.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prior to founding Reem’s, Assil was engaged in political activism and community organizing for many years. She worked for a decade as a labor and community organizer at SEIU Local 1877 and East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), where she fought for the dignity and equality of workers in the Bay Area. In the face of the pandemic, Assil has transformed Reem’s Oakland location into a kitchen that currently feeds more than 10,000 people in need every month, and hopes to transition the bakery into a worker owned cooperative.\u003cem>—Sam K. Lew\u003c/em> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a climate that is very polarized. I worry about that because there is a whole generation, particularly a younger generation, that is really galvanized but has no institutions to plug into. What happens when you have a group of people who are galvanized but not organized? Because of COVID, folks are stuck in front of social media and that becomes their only way to relate to the world, which doesn’t necessarily affect the change that we want. However, I do think there are communities on the very local level who are doing a good job of creating institutions that are protecting their own. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As a Bay Area chef and restaurant owner, what is the importance of the food industry in this current moment? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The one thing that I’ve really tried to push on my fellow chefs, especially to those who are business owners, is that it’s not about the business owner right now, although certainly we’ve been impacted. It’s about the communities that we live in and our workers and this economy that is crumbling. While I would appreciate government assistance, I would rather see policies that will lift all of us up. Sometimes, I feel like the advocacy is more narrow-minded on a national level about what it would take to save restaurants.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887183\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831.jpg\" alt=\"Reem Assil prepares meals for The Unity Council to distribute to those in need of food. The Unity Council is a non-profit organization that provides assistance for low-income children, families and immigrants.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887183\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9831-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reem Assil and Karl Greene prepare meals for The Unity Council to distribute to those in need of food. The Unity Council is a non-profit organization that provides assistance for low-income children, families and immigrants. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There is a tremendous opportunity to redefine restaurants’ role in our communities as economic engines, as political stakeholders, as teachers, as organizers. Why not use this moment to organize folks in the workplace? Business owners may be afraid of doing that, but we have to give something up to make this work. Reem’s is transitioning to a worker ownership, shared-governance structure. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even before we talked about making Reem’s into a co-op, we had always built a model around employing people with the most barriers: hiring people of color, formerly incarcerated folks, and undocumented people—especially when the refugee population surged. It’s a place where people who were overlooked get a chance and get paid well. Our wages were higher than the living wage, and we didn’t create the same hierarchies of the food world. Whether you were the dishwasher or the line cook, Reem’s was about providing a place of refuge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’ve been engaged in political activism throughout many elections, including during the Bush administration. What keeps you going, in spite of burnout or cynicism? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I’ve been part of political campaigns where we’ve seen the changes. I’ve seen the power of good old-fashioned door knocking. The act of talking to my fellow citizens is honestly the more transformative piece of the work than the actual outcome of the campaign. I’ve been part of campaigns where we’ve won and ones that we haven’t won, but it was still powerful because you build relationships with your community and you get clearer about what moves us into a better future. It’s really about the face-to-face organizing and strategizing. It’s lovely to win, too. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887177\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796.jpg\" alt=\"Restaurant owner Reem Assil sits in front of Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020. Assil closed the restaurant's Fruitvale location to the public and now uses it to provide food for vulnerable communities affected by the 2020 global pandemic. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887177\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9796-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Restaurant owner Reem Assil sits in front of Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020. Assil closed the restaurant’s Fruitvale location to the public and now uses it to provide food for vulnerable communities affected by the 2020 global pandemic. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Electoral work is just one tool in our toolkit as we fight for a more just and equitable world. What are some other tools that we can use during and beyond the election?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We should be taking care of one another. One of the most inspiring things of this moment is the mutual aid efforts that have popped up. We can’t really start a movement unless we get our basic needs met. It’s hard to tell people who have four jobs and who don’t have healthcare to go out and vote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Reem’s, we’ve been partnering with SF New Deal and the World Central Kitchen to provide meals to people who need it. We make about 10,000 meals a month. We’re working with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center and the Palestinian Youth Movement to get meals to low-income Arab families. Restaurants could be feeding people and benefitting from it if we were subsidized by the government. Can you imagine if restaurants had structures to do this? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Your work lies at the intersections of borders, nations, people—it is deeply international. What does this look like for you in the face of the election while engaging in local work? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Particularly around food sovereignty, my work has always been internationalist. I’m an extension of the diaspora and of home. As a Palestian and as a Syrian, I try to keep the narrative of my people front and center. That’s important for their fight: to be seen and not to be invisibilized. I know the more I can connect the local with the foreign, the more success we’ll have. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808.jpg\" alt=\"Restaurant owner Reem Assil at Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887178\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9808-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Restaurant owner Reem Assil at Reem’s California in Oakland on Sept. 29, 2020. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The reality is that on the foreign policy level, the militarization of the U.S. is not going to change with the Democratic party. If you think about the Obama regime, his immigration policy was horrible, Guantanamo didn’t get closed down, the troops were still abroad. The system is much bigger than who is in the seat of the president. But some things do change when people in power are pressured. I think about Apartheid South Africa when we decided to engage in the boycott. That was the result of organizing that impacted foreign policy. So we have to keep that pressure until—as we say in organizing—the person in power will move on something because it’s too expensive for them not to. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I hope that we can use the situation to politicize folks and help them understand why it’s important to build. No matter who wins, I hope this moment galvanizes people to do the work and know what’s at stake. Now is not the time to be complacent. We’re going to need everything we’ve built in this time of crisis to forge a new path forward and to hold elected officials accountable whoever they may be—or to take it from them. And the more we can let go of our grasp to this idea of democracy—because we’ve never truly had democracy—the more we can actually build the democratic models we want to see.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn more about Reem Assil and her bakery \u003ca href=\"https://www.reemscalifornia.com/about\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887786/whats-on-your-ballot-reem-assil-of-reems-california-bakery","authors":["byline_arts_13887786"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_12276","arts_235"],"tags":["arts_10112","arts_10278","arts_1297","arts_5826","arts_12480","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887940","label":"source_arts_13887786"},"arts_13887272":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887272","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887272","score":null,"sort":[1602687657000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-inkza-angeles-bautista-climate-activist","title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Inkza Angeles Bautista, Climate Activist","publishDate":1602687657,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Inkza Angeles Bautista, Climate Activist | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">R\u003c/span>ude awakenings are an important part of justice-making. In early September, Californians woke to a shocking burnt-orange sky, one that made it difficult to distinguish between day and night. But how many connected the sky’s shade to systemic injustices of the past—for example, the attempted erasure of regenerative Indigenous knowledge?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, the earth provides opportunities to cherish what we once took for granted, like clear blue skies and hummingbirds. One hummingbird visited climate advocate and youth organizer Inkza Angeles Bautista as we met at Fruitvale Plaza for this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bautista has spent the past four years participating in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/staff/inkza-angeles-bautista/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PODER Youth organizing program\u003c/a>, and she is also the Climate Justice Alliance’s new Youth Articulation and Organizing Fellow. Raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, Bautista says that her family provided her the tools she needed to speak truth to power. Her name also reflects her rich cultural background: her parents “took the Ink in Inca and the Za in Zapotec and they put it together … so, it means two communities united by love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I talked with Bautista about her take on the upcoming elections, about casting her ballot for president for the first time and her vision for a more just world.\u003cem>—Maddy Clifford\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in the United States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I am feeling so constrained. This is a super crucial moment in time. This is the first year we’re ever gonna go into an election with a pandemic, and with this crazy climate chaos going on and so many other things. There’s two different sides to this election and it’s honestly two different sides of the same coin. Our U.S. government is a joke. There is no true democracy and that is something we need to continue to fight for—like, true people-power democracy that’s from the bottom up. I feel like there’s a worse candidate and there’s a worser candidate, so I feel really constrained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887890\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inkza Angeles Bautista: ‘it’s important to get young people involved because sometimes we forget about the knowledge that they hold, the power that they hold.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So I feel a little bit hopeless in that political realm, but hopeful in other realms. I definitely think people are mobilizing in a way, and uniting. When we look at the Black Lives Matter movement, when we look at the Indigenous Sovereignty Movement, there are so many movements of people that are united together and really getting the knowledge so that they can start to be autonomous. There’s so much people-power. So much potential to build. People are working in a way that’s like: “Forget this ‘democracy.’ We need to really start a revolution and create our own democracy because this system is trash. There is nothing to salvage from it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is this your first time voting for president? What excites you about this process? What might feel discouraging?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, this is my first time voting for president; I am 19 years old. I’m excited to cast my ballot. It’s an important stepping stone in a person’s life, when you get to fill out a ballot and be like, “My voice counts.” And I have mixed emotions about that too. It feels discouraging when I think about the reality that regardless of, sometimes, a majority of people voting for certain candidates, certain propositions, certain policies, a lot of the time we still get overthrown by the money. Capitalism always plays a role in this. Big industries have so much leverage in the policies and the politicians who get chosen. So I just be feeling like, “Is my voice even really being heard?” But I can tell you last year when I filled out the ballots for local policies, I did feel some type of power. So I’m making the action of putting in my ballot, putting in my piece. [aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-15-business-property-taxes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Schools and Communities First Initiative\u003c/a> is something that I’m excited about—bringing funding, resources and also having more of a democratic process in choosing administrators. I really am a lover of education even though I’m not a school person myself. The kind of schooling that we have here, it’s very traditional, it’s very rigid. I think we don’t focus enough in on honoring the diversity of people … we have very little funding, especially in public schools, for arts and we approach education like everyone is exactly the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Have you seen any opportunities for us to reimagine the way that we educate?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the pandemic, those differences in the way that young people approach learning and how they learn have been so present. And so it’s super crucial to meet students right now halfway, because of all the chaos in the world. But we should be doing that not only because we’re in a pandemic—in schools we need to be doing that too. I’m in college, and [educators] are doing better than they would if I was in the physical school at City College [of San Francisco]. They’re checking in on our mental health, sometimes they let you slide, or they’re trying to be understanding of situations going on in the house. The system needs to be for students, about educating young people and people being passionate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887892\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887892\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inkza Angeles Bautista: ‘We need to really put our game faces on and fight for to protect our earth. We only got one.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What can politicians do differently to encourage and involve young voters? What are you noticing about young people and the voting process?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to be super intentional about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-18-voting-17-year-olds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">integrating young people into the voting process\u003c/a>. Because sometimes they don’t want to take that first step, so we have to meet each other halfway. I think some of the ways we can involve young people are anything from going out into the streets, which we have been doing … I’ve been doing some phone banking for different propositions and the people that I call up are usually adults. Because we’re not targeting young people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s so many ways we can engage youth—through art, through the digital world, Instagram, memes. And it’s important to get young people involved because sometimes we forget about the knowledge that they hold, the power that they hold. As a young person I feel that too. I enter spaces and they’re just like, “Well, your wisdom is not valid here.” And that’s messed up because my knowledge is valid. It’s important, it’s crucial. And that’s what I think all young people are: they’re crucial to the democratic process. They need to start young and learn about this stuff young so that they can be more informed as they grow older. And a lot of the time we don’t have access to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the biggest issues for young people is one you’re really involved in, which is the climate crisis we’re facing. I think all of us really had real grounding when the sky was orange. What was that like for you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was apocalyptic. I woke up and I was in shock. I was like, Did I wake up in the night? And I opened my windows and it was pitch black and dark red. How many centuries of pollution does it take for us to get to this point where we’re experiencing all the negative consequences? Especially as youth. Decades and decades and decades of human population, which is so crazy. I remember getting on Instagram and everyone was posting it, everyone was Snapchatting it and I was just like, \u003cem>oh my goodness, this isn’t a joke\u003c/em>. Everyone has been saying “2020, this and that,” everything in this year. No, it’s only gonna get worse if we don’t make a change. This is a wake-up call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I think in terms of urgency for young people, we’re the ones who are gonna stay here the longest. And it’s so scary to think about the fact that we’re gonna have to mobilize super fast and take on the struggle to fight climate change. Sometimes I think, is it even worth it having kids? What kind of world are my nieces, nephews, everyone who is going to be born in the following generations—how are we gonna survive? How are we gonna fight this? There’s so much urgency. It’s such a crucial moment. Sometimes I feel really scared and really hopeless. And other times, days like today I think the earth is showing us that there are wake-up calls. She’s still here, she’s still fighting, so we need to fight too. We need to really put our game faces on and fight to protect our earth. We’ve only got one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887893\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887893\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inkza Angeles Bautista: ’Indigenous peoples have so much wisdom and so much knowledge on how to take care of the earth.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Centuries-old Indigenous knowledge is starting to be recognized in more mainstream circles as the core of combating the climate crisis—for example, they just lifted these laws that banned Indigenous groups from engaging in burning practices that would help make fires less lethal. Does that give you hope?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whenever I feel hopeless I always revert back to my Indigenous roots and practices. Gardening is one of those things that really connects me to mother earth, and it’s something that I know that my ancestors have practiced for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples have so much wisdom and so much knowledge on how to take care of the earth, which is why it’s so crazy that our Indigenous peoples from all over the world—from Asia to Africa to all of the Americas—all of our Indigenous practices were stripped from us. We’re still, to this day, fighting just to be able to practice some of them. We knew how to not only be in balance but in a regenerative relationship with the earth, and that’s what we need to find our way back to, a practice of give and take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to revolutionize the way we live our lives, the way we consume. The way we are living right now is in total disharmony. We need to give back land and full stewardship, full rights to practice ancient, Indigenous ways. And the saddest part is we’re losing time because some of our older generations are dying. That knowledge is in short supply, because sometimes it’s not being handed down. Cultural celebration and cultural preservation is such an important and key role in the regeneration of our species as a whole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a community organizer on a city level, on a community level, and on a national level—[especially now through my work] with the Climate Justice Alliance. What I envision for the future is a just transition, and that really means revolutionizing the way we eat, the way we play, the way we transport ourselves, the way we consume. A just transition from the type of extractive economy that we have, and by economy I mean “the way we manage home.” Really being super radical—dumping out the old ways that are toxic, that are not doing any favors to anyone in the world. Capitalism and consumer culture need to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just envision our most vulnerable, our most, first- and worst-impacted communities thriving. When those communities are reached, when they’re thriving—not only people but animals, plants, plancestors … when all of those communities are thriving then we’ll know we made a just transition. That’s what I envision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Inkza Angeles Bautista \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/staff/inkza-angeles-bautista/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The 19-year-old activist discusses the urgency of climate action and honoring Indigenous wisdom. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1712099565,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":29,"wordCount":2236},"headData":{"title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Inkza Angeles Bautista, Climate Activist | KQED","description":"The 19-year-old activist discusses the urgency of climate action and honoring Indigenous wisdom. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Inkza Angeles Bautista, Climate Activist","datePublished":"2020-10-14T15:00:57.000Z","dateModified":"2024-04-02T23:12:45.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13887272/whats-on-your-ballot-inkza-angeles-bautista-climate-activist","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">R\u003c/span>ude awakenings are an important part of justice-making. In early September, Californians woke to a shocking burnt-orange sky, one that made it difficult to distinguish between day and night. But how many connected the sky’s shade to systemic injustices of the past—for example, the attempted erasure of regenerative Indigenous knowledge?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, the earth provides opportunities to cherish what we once took for granted, like clear blue skies and hummingbirds. One hummingbird visited climate advocate and youth organizer Inkza Angeles Bautista as we met at Fruitvale Plaza for this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bautista has spent the past four years participating in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/staff/inkza-angeles-bautista/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PODER Youth organizing program\u003c/a>, and she is also the Climate Justice Alliance’s new Youth Articulation and Organizing Fellow. Raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, Bautista says that her family provided her the tools she needed to speak truth to power. Her name also reflects her rich cultural background: her parents “took the Ink in Inca and the Za in Zapotec and they put it together … so, it means two communities united by love.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I talked with Bautista about her take on the upcoming elections, about casting her ballot for president for the first time and her vision for a more just world.\u003cem>—Maddy Clifford\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in the United States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I am feeling so constrained. This is a super crucial moment in time. This is the first year we’re ever gonna go into an election with a pandemic, and with this crazy climate chaos going on and so many other things. There’s two different sides to this election and it’s honestly two different sides of the same coin. Our U.S. government is a joke. There is no true democracy and that is something we need to continue to fight for—like, true people-power democracy that’s from the bottom up. I feel like there’s a worse candidate and there’s a worser candidate, so I feel really constrained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887890\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/022_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inkza Angeles Bautista: ‘it’s important to get young people involved because sometimes we forget about the knowledge that they hold, the power that they hold.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So I feel a little bit hopeless in that political realm, but hopeful in other realms. I definitely think people are mobilizing in a way, and uniting. When we look at the Black Lives Matter movement, when we look at the Indigenous Sovereignty Movement, there are so many movements of people that are united together and really getting the knowledge so that they can start to be autonomous. There’s so much people-power. So much potential to build. People are working in a way that’s like: “Forget this ‘democracy.’ We need to really start a revolution and create our own democracy because this system is trash. There is nothing to salvage from it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is this your first time voting for president? What excites you about this process? What might feel discouraging?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, this is my first time voting for president; I am 19 years old. I’m excited to cast my ballot. It’s an important stepping stone in a person’s life, when you get to fill out a ballot and be like, “My voice counts.” And I have mixed emotions about that too. It feels discouraging when I think about the reality that regardless of, sometimes, a majority of people voting for certain candidates, certain propositions, certain policies, a lot of the time we still get overthrown by the money. Capitalism always plays a role in this. Big industries have so much leverage in the policies and the politicians who get chosen. So I just be feeling like, “Is my voice even really being heard?” But I can tell you last year when I filled out the ballots for local policies, I did feel some type of power. So I’m making the action of putting in my ballot, putting in my piece. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-15-business-property-taxes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Schools and Communities First Initiative\u003c/a> is something that I’m excited about—bringing funding, resources and also having more of a democratic process in choosing administrators. I really am a lover of education even though I’m not a school person myself. The kind of schooling that we have here, it’s very traditional, it’s very rigid. I think we don’t focus enough in on honoring the diversity of people … we have very little funding, especially in public schools, for arts and we approach education like everyone is exactly the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Have you seen any opportunities for us to reimagine the way that we educate?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the pandemic, those differences in the way that young people approach learning and how they learn have been so present. And so it’s super crucial to meet students right now halfway, because of all the chaos in the world. But we should be doing that not only because we’re in a pandemic—in schools we need to be doing that too. I’m in college, and [educators] are doing better than they would if I was in the physical school at City College [of San Francisco]. They’re checking in on our mental health, sometimes they let you slide, or they’re trying to be understanding of situations going on in the house. The system needs to be for students, about educating young people and people being passionate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887892\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887892\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/030_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inkza Angeles Bautista: ‘We need to really put our game faces on and fight for to protect our earth. We only got one.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What can politicians do differently to encourage and involve young voters? What are you noticing about young people and the voting process?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to be super intentional about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-18-voting-17-year-olds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">integrating young people into the voting process\u003c/a>. Because sometimes they don’t want to take that first step, so we have to meet each other halfway. I think some of the ways we can involve young people are anything from going out into the streets, which we have been doing … I’ve been doing some phone banking for different propositions and the people that I call up are usually adults. Because we’re not targeting young people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s so many ways we can engage youth—through art, through the digital world, Instagram, memes. And it’s important to get young people involved because sometimes we forget about the knowledge that they hold, the power that they hold. As a young person I feel that too. I enter spaces and they’re just like, “Well, your wisdom is not valid here.” And that’s messed up because my knowledge is valid. It’s important, it’s crucial. And that’s what I think all young people are: they’re crucial to the democratic process. They need to start young and learn about this stuff young so that they can be more informed as they grow older. And a lot of the time we don’t have access to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the biggest issues for young people is one you’re really involved in, which is the climate crisis we’re facing. I think all of us really had real grounding when the sky was orange. What was that like for you?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was apocalyptic. I woke up and I was in shock. I was like, Did I wake up in the night? And I opened my windows and it was pitch black and dark red. How many centuries of pollution does it take for us to get to this point where we’re experiencing all the negative consequences? Especially as youth. Decades and decades and decades of human population, which is so crazy. I remember getting on Instagram and everyone was posting it, everyone was Snapchatting it and I was just like, \u003cem>oh my goodness, this isn’t a joke\u003c/em>. Everyone has been saying “2020, this and that,” everything in this year. No, it’s only gonna get worse if we don’t make a change. This is a wake-up call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I think in terms of urgency for young people, we’re the ones who are gonna stay here the longest. And it’s so scary to think about the fact that we’re gonna have to mobilize super fast and take on the struggle to fight climate change. Sometimes I think, is it even worth it having kids? What kind of world are my nieces, nephews, everyone who is going to be born in the following generations—how are we gonna survive? How are we gonna fight this? There’s so much urgency. It’s such a crucial moment. Sometimes I feel really scared and really hopeless. And other times, days like today I think the earth is showing us that there are wake-up calls. She’s still here, she’s still fighting, so we need to fight too. We need to really put our game faces on and fight to protect our earth. We’ve only got one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887893\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887893\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_InkzaAngelesBautista_10082020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inkza Angeles Bautista: ’Indigenous peoples have so much wisdom and so much knowledge on how to take care of the earth.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Centuries-old Indigenous knowledge is starting to be recognized in more mainstream circles as the core of combating the climate crisis—for example, they just lifted these laws that banned Indigenous groups from engaging in burning practices that would help make fires less lethal. Does that give you hope?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whenever I feel hopeless I always revert back to my Indigenous roots and practices. Gardening is one of those things that really connects me to mother earth, and it’s something that I know that my ancestors have practiced for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples have so much wisdom and so much knowledge on how to take care of the earth, which is why it’s so crazy that our Indigenous peoples from all over the world—from Asia to Africa to all of the Americas—all of our Indigenous practices were stripped from us. We’re still, to this day, fighting just to be able to practice some of them. We knew how to not only be in balance but in a regenerative relationship with the earth, and that’s what we need to find our way back to, a practice of give and take.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to revolutionize the way we live our lives, the way we consume. The way we are living right now is in total disharmony. We need to give back land and full stewardship, full rights to practice ancient, Indigenous ways. And the saddest part is we’re losing time because some of our older generations are dying. That knowledge is in short supply, because sometimes it’s not being handed down. Cultural celebration and cultural preservation is such an important and key role in the regeneration of our species as a whole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a community organizer on a city level, on a community level, and on a national level—[especially now through my work] with the Climate Justice Alliance. What I envision for the future is a just transition, and that really means revolutionizing the way we eat, the way we play, the way we transport ourselves, the way we consume. A just transition from the type of extractive economy that we have, and by economy I mean “the way we manage home.” Really being super radical—dumping out the old ways that are toxic, that are not doing any favors to anyone in the world. Capitalism and consumer culture need to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just envision our most vulnerable, our most, first- and worst-impacted communities thriving. When those communities are reached, when they’re thriving—not only people but animals, plants, plancestors … when all of those communities are thriving then we’ll know we made a just transition. That’s what I envision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Inkza Angeles Bautista \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/staff/inkza-angeles-bautista/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887272/whats-on-your-ballot-inkza-angeles-bautista-climate-activist","authors":["11725"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_235"],"tags":["arts_1407","arts_8700","arts_10278","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887888","label":"arts"},"arts_13887701":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887701","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887701","score":null,"sort":[1602601242000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-adnan-khan-prisoners-advocate","title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Adnan Khan, Incarcerated Peoples' Advocate","publishDate":1602601242,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Adnan Khan, Incarcerated Peoples’ Advocate | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>dnan Khan is the executive director of \u003ca href=\"https://restorecal.org/author/adnan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Re:Store Justice\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that he co-founded in 2017 while incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. The organization offers resources to survivors of violent crimes, leads transformative justice workshops to those who’ve committed crimes and holds restorative justice discussions between offenders and survivors of violent crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of the organization’s inception, Khan was serving a sentence of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11720792/my-intentions-were-not-to-kill-adnan-khan-is-first-to-be-released-from-prison-under-new-law#:~:text=He%20was%20convicted%20of%20felony,of%2025%20years%20to%20life.&text=Khan%20spent%20nearly%20half%20of,in%20and%20committed%20a%20robbery.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25 years to life\u003c/a> under California’s felony murder rule, after participating in a robbery in which his accomplice killed a person. While behind bars, Khan researched and contributed to the efforts that led to the passing of Senate Bill 1437, which allows people charged under the felony murder rule, like himself, to have their cases revisited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan was the first person re-sentenced under the new law, and subsequently released that day. Out of San Quentin for just over 18 months, Khan now lives in Los Angeles with his partner and newborn child, Aidan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Aidan took a nap, Khan recently took time to answer questions about this fall’s election, national politics and how to make a difference in a country where most people feel as if they have no say.\u003cem>—Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Coming from your background, how do you look at the two presidential candidates that we have now, and say, ‘One of them might benefit me and the community that I come from?’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, I think that a lot of focus can go to the presidential election, and I believe that there is a huge importance there. But as many of us do know, mass incarceration is a systemic problem, it’s a new form of slavery… And what I’ve learned is that when it comes to mass incarceration or prison, \u003ca href=\"https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">90% of the people are in state prisons and local jails\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, when it comes to this voting cycle, it’s really important to know who your governor is, who your state senators are, who your state assembly members are, who your mayor is, who elects the police chief, and who’s your city council, who are your people who can defund the police and reallocate that money. Once I started learning more of the process, I learned that [those] can be very important pieces to focus on the larger pictures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, when it comes to the big debate of the lesser of two evils: Kamala Harris, what she’s done toward the contribution of mass incarceration, and Joe Biden, the ’94 crime bill, and what he’s done with the contribution to mass incarceration is horrible. So a lot of people, morally, feel like they can’t vote for them. But not picking the lesser of two evils, and just settling with the larger evil? I personally can’t do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last thing I want to add to this—I’ve constantly reflected on this a lot—is as a person who has experienced many losses, and done 16 years in prison, and starting at a maximum security prison as a young adult, I \u003cem>lived\u003c/em> in losses. So, we learn how to maneuver around loss, and what that looks like, how to survive another day, if not a moment, with the correctional staff. I lived under an authoritarian state for 16 years, I lived in autocracy for 16 years. And I’m seeing the parallels with the Trump administration. For me, I can’t see voting for Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887822\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Adnan Khan, pictured here while incarcerated at San Quentin.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adnan Khan, pictured here while incarcerated at San Quentin. ‘My amends now would be incomplete if it was only telling someone that I’m sorry,’ Khan says, ‘without preventing a child from committing the same harm that I did.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Adnan Khan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How did you get inspired enough to do something to change your situation? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, I took the steps to educate myself. As you know, in prison, access to information and knowledge is very limited, and it’s done intentionally. I think that gave me more of a hunger, more than anything. Early on in my incarceration, I wanted to investigate my conditions. And as I started to investigate my conditions, I learned that, whoa, there’s a whole systemic thing going on here. And as I kept digging and digging, while living what I’m reading, it was just enlightening. Not in a good way, but in a frustrating way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another thing that’s very personal to me, as we talk about agency, is that I take full responsibility for my crime and for the harm that I’ve caused. And in order for me to take full responsibility, one, I have to acknowledge what I did, and then two, I have to make a living amends. Which means, how do I repair the damage that I’ve caused? But then, in order for me to even do that, I have to understand: how did I go from an eight-year-old little league baseball player to an 18-year-old with a life sentence?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And once I learned how that happened, my amends now would be incomplete if it was only telling someone that I’m sorry, without preventing a child from committing the same harm that I did. And that is rooted in policy, and how our society is structured, and how marginalized children are criminalized in schools. So my amends and my remorse can be there, but it’s incomplete unless I learn about the conditions that led me to commit my crime in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>That’s tight—it’s like, looking at yourself, and taking agency within your own path and your own experience, and also seeing how society failed you. And then seeing that no one else falls through that same crack.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think it’s very misleading to society for someone to take 100% responsibility for the wrong that they’ve done. There are, as you know, societal factors, contributing factors. Like I said, I was 17 years-old. Parentless, homeless, high school dropout. The police showed up after I committed a crime. And so, school: nothing there. Parents: didn’t have any. Didn’t have literally any place to stay. I slept in cars and parks and friends’ houses for like a year. I can take full responsibility—which, I do take full responsibility, for me—but public safety is still at risk if we don’t change conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>To people who feel removed, people that don’t see themselves represented right now by this two-party system, or by local politics, or people who just feel disenfranchised, and don’t have agency—to my young homies who are 18 years-old and have that mindset like, ‘America ain’t mine’—what do you tell them? How do you tell them to get involved?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, I feel like America wasn’t mine either, right? It’s true. The inception of this country is built on property, wealth, and land. Built quite literally over bodies, on genocide. And then enslaving people and then bringing them here. When the constitution was written, they didn’t think about abolishing slavery at that time. So everything they built was to protect themselves, or to protect property. And policing was to protect the property-owning people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887821\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-800x590.jpg\" alt=\"Adnan Khan stands in the Re:Store Justice transitional home in Oakland shortly after his release from San Quentin.\" width=\"800\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-800x590.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-1020x752.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-768x566.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-1536x1133.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adnan Khan stands in the Re:Store Justice transitional home in Oakland shortly after his release from San Quentin. \u003ccite>(Hope McKenney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To the young people, I want to say that this is your time. Because more young people are starting to think like you, and are activating. Activation is physical, it’s a verb. You gotta do. Doing, not meaning talking, but going and doing. And more people are doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What country do you want to live in the next 20 years? Next 15 years? I’ve got a little boy here, and what happens in the next four to eight years is going to be his future. We can set that. You want it, it’s yours. There’s a commercial with an athlete saying that “Greatness isn’t given, it’s taken—you gotta go get it.” Don’t feel like power comes from not participating. Because once you give power away, then you let someone control you, and that’s what’s been happening forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Building off of that, after the election, no matter how it goes, what are your hopes and goals for the future of the country? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most important thing to me is strategy. And as we organize and mobilize, it’s important to educate people on what to do and how to do it. A lot of people’s advocacy is what they read on the 280-character tweet. There’s a lot of people who are more interested in abolition, new systems, or whatever, that have come out in the past six or seven months than there have been in my entire life. To organize means to collect people, and then make sure the mobilizing is mobilizing toward a direction. So the next few years is going to be rooted in strategy for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we choose to go through what we have, the democratic process, let’s start electing our own. I truly feel like, based on QAnon and all this nonsense that’s happening, this is probably the end of the Republican party. And the Democratic party is more like center-right. Meanwhile there’s this entire party that’s emerging—or has always been around, but it’s being added to, as we’re seeing across the nation—what people are calling the progressive party. There is a third party whose needs are not fully represented, whose ideas are not implemented in society. And so, that’s going to be an interesting political party. I feel like that’s going to be emerging, and fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn more about Adnan Khan’s work by visiting \u003ca href=\"https://restorecal.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Re:Store Justice\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Recently released from San Quentin, Adnan Khan sees parallels between prison and the Trump administration. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705019998,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":28,"wordCount":1845},"headData":{"title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Adnan Khan, Incarcerated Peoples' Advocate | KQED","description":"Recently released from San Quentin, Adnan Khan sees parallels between prison and the Trump administration. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Adnan Khan, Incarcerated Peoples' Advocate","datePublished":"2020-10-13T15:00:42.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:39:58.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/arts/13887701/whats-on-your-ballot-adnan-khan-prisoners-advocate","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>dnan Khan is the executive director of \u003ca href=\"https://restorecal.org/author/adnan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Re:Store Justice\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that he co-founded in 2017 while incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. The organization offers resources to survivors of violent crimes, leads transformative justice workshops to those who’ve committed crimes and holds restorative justice discussions between offenders and survivors of violent crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of the organization’s inception, Khan was serving a sentence of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11720792/my-intentions-were-not-to-kill-adnan-khan-is-first-to-be-released-from-prison-under-new-law#:~:text=He%20was%20convicted%20of%20felony,of%2025%20years%20to%20life.&text=Khan%20spent%20nearly%20half%20of,in%20and%20committed%20a%20robbery.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">25 years to life\u003c/a> under California’s felony murder rule, after participating in a robbery in which his accomplice killed a person. While behind bars, Khan researched and contributed to the efforts that led to the passing of Senate Bill 1437, which allows people charged under the felony murder rule, like himself, to have their cases revisited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Khan was the first person re-sentenced under the new law, and subsequently released that day. Out of San Quentin for just over 18 months, Khan now lives in Los Angeles with his partner and newborn child, Aidan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Aidan took a nap, Khan recently took time to answer questions about this fall’s election, national politics and how to make a difference in a country where most people feel as if they have no say.\u003cem>—Pendarvis Harshaw\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Coming from your background, how do you look at the two presidential candidates that we have now, and say, ‘One of them might benefit me and the community that I come from?’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, I think that a lot of focus can go to the presidential election, and I believe that there is a huge importance there. But as many of us do know, mass incarceration is a systemic problem, it’s a new form of slavery… And what I’ve learned is that when it comes to mass incarceration or prison, \u003ca href=\"https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">90% of the people are in state prisons and local jails\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, when it comes to this voting cycle, it’s really important to know who your governor is, who your state senators are, who your state assembly members are, who your mayor is, who elects the police chief, and who’s your city council, who are your people who can defund the police and reallocate that money. Once I started learning more of the process, I learned that [those] can be very important pieces to focus on the larger pictures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, when it comes to the big debate of the lesser of two evils: Kamala Harris, what she’s done toward the contribution of mass incarceration, and Joe Biden, the ’94 crime bill, and what he’s done with the contribution to mass incarceration is horrible. So a lot of people, morally, feel like they can’t vote for them. But not picking the lesser of two evils, and just settling with the larger evil? I personally can’t do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last thing I want to add to this—I’ve constantly reflected on this a lot—is as a person who has experienced many losses, and done 16 years in prison, and starting at a maximum security prison as a young adult, I \u003cem>lived\u003c/em> in losses. So, we learn how to maneuver around loss, and what that looks like, how to survive another day, if not a moment, with the correctional staff. I lived under an authoritarian state for 16 years, I lived in autocracy for 16 years. And I’m seeing the parallels with the Trump administration. For me, I can’t see voting for Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887822\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887822\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Adnan Khan, pictured here while incarcerated at San Quentin.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Inside.jpg 1020w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adnan Khan, pictured here while incarcerated at San Quentin. ‘My amends now would be incomplete if it was only telling someone that I’m sorry,’ Khan says, ‘without preventing a child from committing the same harm that I did.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Adnan Khan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How did you get inspired enough to do something to change your situation? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, I took the steps to educate myself. As you know, in prison, access to information and knowledge is very limited, and it’s done intentionally. I think that gave me more of a hunger, more than anything. Early on in my incarceration, I wanted to investigate my conditions. And as I started to investigate my conditions, I learned that, whoa, there’s a whole systemic thing going on here. And as I kept digging and digging, while living what I’m reading, it was just enlightening. Not in a good way, but in a frustrating way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another thing that’s very personal to me, as we talk about agency, is that I take full responsibility for my crime and for the harm that I’ve caused. And in order for me to take full responsibility, one, I have to acknowledge what I did, and then two, I have to make a living amends. Which means, how do I repair the damage that I’ve caused? But then, in order for me to even do that, I have to understand: how did I go from an eight-year-old little league baseball player to an 18-year-old with a life sentence?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And once I learned how that happened, my amends now would be incomplete if it was only telling someone that I’m sorry, without preventing a child from committing the same harm that I did. And that is rooted in policy, and how our society is structured, and how marginalized children are criminalized in schools. So my amends and my remorse can be there, but it’s incomplete unless I learn about the conditions that led me to commit my crime in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>That’s tight—it’s like, looking at yourself, and taking agency within your own path and your own experience, and also seeing how society failed you. And then seeing that no one else falls through that same crack.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think it’s very misleading to society for someone to take 100% responsibility for the wrong that they’ve done. There are, as you know, societal factors, contributing factors. Like I said, I was 17 years-old. Parentless, homeless, high school dropout. The police showed up after I committed a crime. And so, school: nothing there. Parents: didn’t have any. Didn’t have literally any place to stay. I slept in cars and parks and friends’ houses for like a year. I can take full responsibility—which, I do take full responsibility, for me—but public safety is still at risk if we don’t change conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>To people who feel removed, people that don’t see themselves represented right now by this two-party system, or by local politics, or people who just feel disenfranchised, and don’t have agency—to my young homies who are 18 years-old and have that mindset like, ‘America ain’t mine’—what do you tell them? How do you tell them to get involved?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, I feel like America wasn’t mine either, right? It’s true. The inception of this country is built on property, wealth, and land. Built quite literally over bodies, on genocide. And then enslaving people and then bringing them here. When the constitution was written, they didn’t think about abolishing slavery at that time. So everything they built was to protect themselves, or to protect property. And policing was to protect the property-owning people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887821\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-800x590.jpg\" alt=\"Adnan Khan stands in the Re:Store Justice transitional home in Oakland shortly after his release from San Quentin.\" width=\"800\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-800x590.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-1020x752.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-768x566.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland-1536x1133.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Adnan.Oakland.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adnan Khan stands in the Re:Store Justice transitional home in Oakland shortly after his release from San Quentin. \u003ccite>(Hope McKenney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To the young people, I want to say that this is your time. Because more young people are starting to think like you, and are activating. Activation is physical, it’s a verb. You gotta do. Doing, not meaning talking, but going and doing. And more people are doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What country do you want to live in the next 20 years? Next 15 years? I’ve got a little boy here, and what happens in the next four to eight years is going to be his future. We can set that. You want it, it’s yours. There’s a commercial with an athlete saying that “Greatness isn’t given, it’s taken—you gotta go get it.” Don’t feel like power comes from not participating. Because once you give power away, then you let someone control you, and that’s what’s been happening forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Building off of that, after the election, no matter how it goes, what are your hopes and goals for the future of the country? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most important thing to me is strategy. And as we organize and mobilize, it’s important to educate people on what to do and how to do it. A lot of people’s advocacy is what they read on the 280-character tweet. There’s a lot of people who are more interested in abolition, new systems, or whatever, that have come out in the past six or seven months than there have been in my entire life. To organize means to collect people, and then make sure the mobilizing is mobilizing toward a direction. So the next few years is going to be rooted in strategy for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we choose to go through what we have, the democratic process, let’s start electing our own. I truly feel like, based on QAnon and all this nonsense that’s happening, this is probably the end of the Republican party. And the Democratic party is more like center-right. Meanwhile there’s this entire party that’s emerging—or has always been around, but it’s being added to, as we’re seeing across the nation—what people are calling the progressive party. There is a third party whose needs are not fully represented, whose ideas are not implemented in society. And so, that’s going to be an interesting political party. I feel like that’s going to be emerging, and fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Learn more about Adnan Khan’s work by visiting \u003ca href=\"https://restorecal.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Re:Store Justice\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887701/whats-on-your-ballot-adnan-khan-prisoners-advocate","authors":["11491"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_235"],"tags":["arts_10112","arts_10278","arts_10422","arts_5826","arts_1526","arts_7530","arts_1985","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887823","label":"arts"},"arts_13887212":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887212","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887212","score":null,"sort":[1602514803000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-stephan-pastis-cartoonist-of-pearls-before-swine","title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Stephan Pastis, Cartoonist of 'Pearls Before Swine'","publishDate":1602514803,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Stephan Pastis, Cartoonist of ‘Pearls Before Swine’ | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>o the uninitiated, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pearls Before Swine\u003c/a>\u003c/em> appears deceptively simple. The daily comic strip, which is penned by Santa Rosa’s Stephan Pastis and appears in more than 650 newspapers, takes place in a suburb. Its cast of characters are all named for their species: Rat, Pig, Zebra, Goat. They talk to neighbors, read the news, watch TV, and occasionally have a beer at the bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you only need to read \u003cem>Pearls\u003c/em> for a week for the strip’s wry blend of black comedy and pathos—biting social commentary, pure tenderness and some extremely stupid puns—to worm their way into your heart. Pearls has clear spiritual ancestors in \u003cem>Peanuts\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Calvin & Hobbes\u003c/em>, and \u003cem>Bloom County\u003c/em>. But the world Pastis has created is all his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a world where politics color the characters’ lives, with real headlines seeping into the story—sometimes with a wink, but always in a way that feels natural. Pointed, never forced. It’s a dance that has occasionally landed Pastis on the wrong side of his syndicate, or of individual newspapers, which have no qualms about censoring strips that don’t meet their standards for the funny pages—in 2016, this meant nixing \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis/status/758471559950368768\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a strip that referenced NSA wiretapping and ISIS\u003c/a>. (It has also, to be fair, meant\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis/status/1058049793350524928\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> humor that would not be out of place in a 7th grade gym class\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastis spoke to me by phone in September, the day after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13886045/people-are-surfing-under-smoky-orange-skies-in-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dark Orange Sky\u003c/a>.\u003cem>—Emma Silvers\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in the United States right now?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think we’re all pretty locked in, right? Everyone is really polarized. What’s going to happen is going to happen. And I pray for this country because I’m scared. This has nothing to do with right or left. I’m scared that people don’t recognize that a democracy is fragile and that when it goes away for expediency, it really goes away. I think when you don’t read, and you’re not informed, and you don’t care, and the numbers of those people are in the majority, we’re in trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that goes beyond Trump. As much as people like to wave the flag, the truth is that what makes us unique is that crazy, messy democracy and our Bill of Rights. And if you don’t value it, you are going to lose it. This doesn’t feel like a Republican vs. Democrat thing. This feels like saving who we are. I hope I’m wrong, but some of the norms that we have broken, we should not have broken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The demonization of journalists is especially frightening to me. Because when we don’t have Congress as a check, we have to lean more heavily on the other two branches, judiciary and journalism. The strain and pressure on those two to play catch-up has been tremendous. And that [journalists are] simultaneously being attacked is just crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13886591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13886591\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Stephan Pastis draws a quick sketch at his studio on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. The cartoonist prefers to work on a flat surface using a short chair. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephan Pastis draws a quick sketch at his studio on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. The cartoonist prefers to work on a flat surface using a short chair. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Pearls Before Swine\u003c/em> started just a couple months after 9/11, and I know you caught some flak early on for \u003ca href=\"https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2003/08/17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">criticizing then-President George W. Bush\u003c/a>. How would you describe your approach to politics in the strip?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I started out, I was just a kid who didn’t know any better, so I was pretty fearless. But one thing I learned from trial and error is that when you name a party, and you’re explicit about it, you do two things. One, you set aside half your audience that day, [people] who might otherwise like you. And two, and this is the more dangerous one, you allow the audience to get a handle on you. And they should never have a handle on you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To me, DeNiro was a better actor before he started doing interviews because you didn’t really know what he was like, you know? Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he’s in a movie, that comes with a lot. You go, ‘Oh, that’s Arnold Schwarzenegger.’ And I don’t think that’s good. I think you kind of want to be as invisible as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I also think everyone is pretty much set in stone at this point—team red, team blue—so when you lead with politics now, it’s just an automatic flip of the switch. So I don’t come at it from that angle. What I’ve learned I can get away with is to come at it from a systemic angle. For example, [to call out] people not making any effort whatsoever to inform themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So you don’t criticize Trump by name.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To me, Trump is not the problem. The problem is we elected him. You probably know people in your family like him. We all have that one relative like that guy. If it’s not him, it’s going to be another one of us some day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So you look at what’s systemic: One [idea] I try to hit is that it is so dangerous when people get their news from social media platforms that are not vetted. [KQED] and every other responsible outlet, if you say something wrong, someone can get sued. But Facebook, when most people get their news from that, there’s no accountability, and you’re letting in all these other countries to influence your election. That’s on us. All these things you see, from people not believing climate change, to Trump, it comes from us. We caused that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887767\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887767\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-800x390.jpg\" alt=\"'Pearls Before Swine,' July 28, 2019. \" width=\"800\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-800x390.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-768x375.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Pearls Before Swine,’ July 28, 2019. \u003ccite>(Stephan Pastis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So I hit those things, and if I hit those things well, you don’t quite know which side I’m on, but it doesn’t really matter, either. Hopefully I’ve gotten you to think that you really should \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis/status/1155483860286656512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">subscribe to your local newspaper\u003c/a>. Because, for example, when the Tubbs fire hit in 2017, the \u003cem>Press Democrat\u003c/em> was all we had, and it became really critical. [The \u003cem>Press Democrat\u003c/em> subsequently \u003ca href=\"https://www.pulitzer.org/article/how-small-newspaper-took-big-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">won a Pulitzer\u003c/a> for its fire reporting.\u003cem>—Ed\u003c/em>.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, on a productivity level, I just want people to talk to each other. I didn’t realize until 2016 how much of a bubble I was in. We have to listen to each other, so I don’t want to get you in a way that makes you defensive. I’d rather talk to you, because I bet there are areas we agree on. So that was an evolution for me. I was not there when I started. I was just a kid who, if I found something funny, I said it. And I suppose the strip reflects that. It changes as I change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you view your role during this time, as an artist? Do you have a responsibility to comment on what’s happening, or just to provide a moment of relief and entertainment for people? Some combination?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think my duty is to make people laugh. But over the past year, for the first time in my career, I have also felt a responsibility to comfort. So I pretty much gave the strip over to Pig, who’s uniquely suited for that. He has a genuinely good heart. I feel what all of us feel, real fear and desperation. But I have this platform where I can make people feel just a little better for three seconds. So I’ve done that as much as I can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comic strip characters are in an interesting position. I sometimes equate them to this guy—there used to be this guy in our old neighborhood in North Berkeley, who would stand on his lawn and wave to everybody as they drove to work in the morning, and people loved it. And that always stuck in my head because I think that’s one of my jobs: people are getting up in the morning, they have their coffee, they have all their routines, and they want to see this person or character that makes them happy for just a second. About the same amount of time it would take you to drive past that guy. And I think, now more than ever, that’s my job, because the need for it is really huge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13886592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13886592\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Stephan Pastis flips through his book ‘Pearls Goes Hollywood.’ Pastis says he enjoyed making small nod at Santa Rosa in the book’s pull-out poster. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephan Pastis flips through his book ‘Pearls Goes Hollywood.’ Pastis says he enjoyed making small nod at Santa Rosa in the book’s pull-out poster. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Are there any local measures, or issues that aren’t necessarily giant national talking points, that you’re particularly invested in?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, our local one\u003cem> is\u003c/em> giant, which is that if you don’t believe climate change is real, the past week has taught you that. It is so frightening what we’re experiencing. There was a moment during the lightning storms in August where a breeze blew through our house that was \u003cem>so hot\u003c/em>, it was unlike anything I’d ever felt before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nobody else, no other countries are debating climate change. It would be like fighting about oxygen and whether it’s necessary. Or masks! How do you debate masks?! What do you do if someone walks up to you and says “Yeah, gravity, people say it’s there, I don’t know…” \u003cem>What do you do?\u003c/em> Like, even if everyone was wrong about [fossil fuels and pollution causing] climate change, wouldn’t you like to live in a world where you could breathe the air, where there wasn’t the chance of an Exxon Valdez [oil spill]?. This stuff drives me nuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some things do encourage me. The younger generation encourages me. This stuff with the NBA and activism [protesting police brutality] encourages me. There was this great, challenging bit that I think about a lot from Dave Chapelle, who I think might be a prophet. He explained that he saw the election of Trump as Emmett Till—a horrible tragedy that ultimately lets everyone see the face of this thing, and that it’s around you. And that once you can see it, and acknowledge its presence, then we can start to deal with it. I thought that was really prescient and really smart. A light got shone, and everyone got to see what, of course, lots of people have already been talking about for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887768\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887768\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-800x390.jpg\" alt=\"'Pearls Before Swine,' May 23, 2020.\" width=\"800\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-800x390.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-768x375.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Pearls Before Swine,’ May 23, 2020. \u003ccite>(Stephan Pastis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That we are engaged, and that we see our responsibility to support some form of local journalism, because without it we will feel the pain. And maybe we get a little less materialistic while we’re at it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stay up on ‘Pearls Before Swine’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>, or on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephan Pastis’ Twitter\u003c/a>. And, if you’re a ‘Calvin & Hobbes’ fan, be sure to read Pastis’ story of \u003ca href=\"https://stephanpastis.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/ever-wished-that-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-would-return-to-the-comics-page-well-he-just-did/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">secretly collaborating with Bill Watterson\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Santa Rosa-based cartoonist says the problem isn't Donald Trump: 'The problem is we elected him.'","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705020002,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":32,"wordCount":2050},"headData":{"title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Stephan Pastis, Cartoonist of 'Pearls Before Swine' | KQED","description":"The Santa Rosa-based cartoonist says the problem isn't Donald Trump: 'The problem is we elected him.'","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What's On Your Ballot?: Stephan Pastis, Cartoonist of 'Pearls Before Swine'","datePublished":"2020-10-12T15:00:03.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:40:02.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13887212/whats-on-your-ballot-stephan-pastis-cartoonist-of-pearls-before-swine","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>o the uninitiated, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pearls Before Swine\u003c/a>\u003c/em> appears deceptively simple. The daily comic strip, which is penned by Santa Rosa’s Stephan Pastis and appears in more than 650 newspapers, takes place in a suburb. Its cast of characters are all named for their species: Rat, Pig, Zebra, Goat. They talk to neighbors, read the news, watch TV, and occasionally have a beer at the bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you only need to read \u003cem>Pearls\u003c/em> for a week for the strip’s wry blend of black comedy and pathos—biting social commentary, pure tenderness and some extremely stupid puns—to worm their way into your heart. Pearls has clear spiritual ancestors in \u003cem>Peanuts\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Calvin & Hobbes\u003c/em>, and \u003cem>Bloom County\u003c/em>. But the world Pastis has created is all his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also a world where politics color the characters’ lives, with real headlines seeping into the story—sometimes with a wink, but always in a way that feels natural. Pointed, never forced. It’s a dance that has occasionally landed Pastis on the wrong side of his syndicate, or of individual newspapers, which have no qualms about censoring strips that don’t meet their standards for the funny pages—in 2016, this meant nixing \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis/status/758471559950368768\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a strip that referenced NSA wiretapping and ISIS\u003c/a>. (It has also, to be fair, meant\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis/status/1058049793350524928\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> humor that would not be out of place in a 7th grade gym class\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pastis spoke to me by phone in September, the day after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13886045/people-are-surfing-under-smoky-orange-skies-in-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dark Orange Sky\u003c/a>.\u003cem>—Emma Silvers\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in the United States right now?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think we’re all pretty locked in, right? Everyone is really polarized. What’s going to happen is going to happen. And I pray for this country because I’m scared. This has nothing to do with right or left. I’m scared that people don’t recognize that a democracy is fragile and that when it goes away for expediency, it really goes away. I think when you don’t read, and you’re not informed, and you don’t care, and the numbers of those people are in the majority, we’re in trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that goes beyond Trump. As much as people like to wave the flag, the truth is that what makes us unique is that crazy, messy democracy and our Bill of Rights. And if you don’t value it, you are going to lose it. This doesn’t feel like a Republican vs. Democrat thing. This feels like saving who we are. I hope I’m wrong, but some of the norms that we have broken, we should not have broken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The demonization of journalists is especially frightening to me. Because when we don’t have Congress as a check, we have to lean more heavily on the other two branches, judiciary and journalism. The strain and pressure on those two to play catch-up has been tremendous. And that [journalists are] simultaneously being attacked is just crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13886591\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13886591\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Stephan Pastis draws a quick sketch at his studio on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. The cartoonist prefers to work on a flat surface using a short chair. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9709.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephan Pastis draws a quick sketch at his studio on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. The cartoonist prefers to work on a flat surface using a short chair. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Pearls Before Swine\u003c/em> started just a couple months after 9/11, and I know you caught some flak early on for \u003ca href=\"https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2003/08/17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">criticizing then-President George W. Bush\u003c/a>. How would you describe your approach to politics in the strip?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I started out, I was just a kid who didn’t know any better, so I was pretty fearless. But one thing I learned from trial and error is that when you name a party, and you’re explicit about it, you do two things. One, you set aside half your audience that day, [people] who might otherwise like you. And two, and this is the more dangerous one, you allow the audience to get a handle on you. And they should never have a handle on you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To me, DeNiro was a better actor before he started doing interviews because you didn’t really know what he was like, you know? Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he’s in a movie, that comes with a lot. You go, ‘Oh, that’s Arnold Schwarzenegger.’ And I don’t think that’s good. I think you kind of want to be as invisible as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I also think everyone is pretty much set in stone at this point—team red, team blue—so when you lead with politics now, it’s just an automatic flip of the switch. So I don’t come at it from that angle. What I’ve learned I can get away with is to come at it from a systemic angle. For example, [to call out] people not making any effort whatsoever to inform themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So you don’t criticize Trump by name.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To me, Trump is not the problem. The problem is we elected him. You probably know people in your family like him. We all have that one relative like that guy. If it’s not him, it’s going to be another one of us some day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So you look at what’s systemic: One [idea] I try to hit is that it is so dangerous when people get their news from social media platforms that are not vetted. [KQED] and every other responsible outlet, if you say something wrong, someone can get sued. But Facebook, when most people get their news from that, there’s no accountability, and you’re letting in all these other countries to influence your election. That’s on us. All these things you see, from people not believing climate change, to Trump, it comes from us. We caused that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887767\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887767\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-800x390.jpg\" alt=\"'Pearls Before Swine,' July 28, 2019. \" width=\"800\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-800x390.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls-768x375.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Pearls Before Swine,’ July 28, 2019. \u003ccite>(Stephan Pastis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So I hit those things, and if I hit those things well, you don’t quite know which side I’m on, but it doesn’t really matter, either. Hopefully I’ve gotten you to think that you really should \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis/status/1155483860286656512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">subscribe to your local newspaper\u003c/a>. Because, for example, when the Tubbs fire hit in 2017, the \u003cem>Press Democrat\u003c/em> was all we had, and it became really critical. [The \u003cem>Press Democrat\u003c/em> subsequently \u003ca href=\"https://www.pulitzer.org/article/how-small-newspaper-took-big-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">won a Pulitzer\u003c/a> for its fire reporting.\u003cem>—Ed\u003c/em>.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, on a productivity level, I just want people to talk to each other. I didn’t realize until 2016 how much of a bubble I was in. We have to listen to each other, so I don’t want to get you in a way that makes you defensive. I’d rather talk to you, because I bet there are areas we agree on. So that was an evolution for me. I was not there when I started. I was just a kid who, if I found something funny, I said it. And I suppose the strip reflects that. It changes as I change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you view your role during this time, as an artist? Do you have a responsibility to comment on what’s happening, or just to provide a moment of relief and entertainment for people? Some combination?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think my duty is to make people laugh. But over the past year, for the first time in my career, I have also felt a responsibility to comfort. So I pretty much gave the strip over to Pig, who’s uniquely suited for that. He has a genuinely good heart. I feel what all of us feel, real fear and desperation. But I have this platform where I can make people feel just a little better for three seconds. So I’ve done that as much as I can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Comic strip characters are in an interesting position. I sometimes equate them to this guy—there used to be this guy in our old neighborhood in North Berkeley, who would stand on his lawn and wave to everybody as they drove to work in the morning, and people loved it. And that always stuck in my head because I think that’s one of my jobs: people are getting up in the morning, they have their coffee, they have all their routines, and they want to see this person or character that makes them happy for just a second. About the same amount of time it would take you to drive past that guy. And I think, now more than ever, that’s my job, because the need for it is really huge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13886592\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13886592\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Stephan Pastis flips through his book ‘Pearls Goes Hollywood.’ Pastis says he enjoyed making small nod at Santa Rosa in the book’s pull-out poster. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9713.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephan Pastis flips through his book ‘Pearls Goes Hollywood.’ Pastis says he enjoyed making small nod at Santa Rosa in the book’s pull-out poster. \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Are there any local measures, or issues that aren’t necessarily giant national talking points, that you’re particularly invested in?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, our local one\u003cem> is\u003c/em> giant, which is that if you don’t believe climate change is real, the past week has taught you that. It is so frightening what we’re experiencing. There was a moment during the lightning storms in August where a breeze blew through our house that was \u003cem>so hot\u003c/em>, it was unlike anything I’d ever felt before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nobody else, no other countries are debating climate change. It would be like fighting about oxygen and whether it’s necessary. Or masks! How do you debate masks?! What do you do if someone walks up to you and says “Yeah, gravity, people say it’s there, I don’t know…” \u003cem>What do you do?\u003c/em> Like, even if everyone was wrong about [fossil fuels and pollution causing] climate change, wouldn’t you like to live in a world where you could breathe the air, where there wasn’t the chance of an Exxon Valdez [oil spill]?. This stuff drives me nuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some things do encourage me. The younger generation encourages me. This stuff with the NBA and activism [protesting police brutality] encourages me. There was this great, challenging bit that I think about a lot from Dave Chapelle, who I think might be a prophet. He explained that he saw the election of Trump as Emmett Till—a horrible tragedy that ultimately lets everyone see the face of this thing, and that it’s around you. And that once you can see it, and acknowledge its presence, then we can start to deal with it. I thought that was really prescient and really smart. A light got shone, and everyone got to see what, of course, lots of people have already been talking about for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887768\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887768\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-800x390.jpg\" alt=\"'Pearls Before Swine,' May 23, 2020.\" width=\"800\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-800x390.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-160x78.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23-768x375.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/Pearls5.23.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘Pearls Before Swine,’ May 23, 2020. \u003ccite>(Stephan Pastis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That we are engaged, and that we see our responsibility to support some form of local journalism, because without it we will feel the pain. And maybe we get a little less materialistic while we’re at it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stay up on ‘Pearls Before Swine’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>, or on \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephanpastis?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephan Pastis’ Twitter\u003c/a>. And, if you’re a ‘Calvin & Hobbes’ fan, be sure to read Pastis’ story of \u003ca href=\"https://stephanpastis.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/ever-wished-that-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-would-return-to-the-comics-page-well-he-just-did/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">secretly collaborating with Bill Watterson\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887212/whats-on-your-ballot-stephan-pastis-cartoonist-of-pearls-before-swine","authors":["7237"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_2303","arts_835","arts_235","arts_75"],"tags":["arts_1942","arts_2767","arts_10278","arts_746","arts_5826","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887766","label":"arts"},"arts_13887146":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887146","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887146","score":null,"sort":[1602255614000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-rexy-tapia-activist-and-drag-performer","title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Rexy Tapia, Activist and Drag Performer","publishDate":1602255614,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Rexy Tapia, Activist and Drag Performer | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">F\u003c/span>or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13840309/for-the-one-and-only-rexy-the-best-is-yet-to-come\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rexy Tapia\u003c/a>, a crucial aspect of the fall election is who gets to turn in a ballot. The activist and performer grew up in Tijuana and moved to San Francisco at the age of 11, graduating from Mission High School in 2015. Tapia is a legal resident of the United States, but not a citizen, which means she’s not allowed to vote on anything besides some local measures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s no surprise that the co-founder of the Bay Area Queer Nightlife Coalition, who fought for the safety of her fellow trans and gender non-conforming students at Mission High, is keenly interested in this fall’s California ballot measures that would expand voting rights—specifically, to young people and to individuals on parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The four-time host of the Trans March stage often uses drag to make her political points, recently appearing in an online commemoration of the Compton’s Cafeteria uprising. But Tapia’s performance praxis actually started back in high school, with her early show “The Rexy Project,” which employed drag to foster dialogue around race, gender, and immigration—work she continued with Grace Towers in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13859216/dragtivism-teaches-lgbtq-history-and-empowerment-with-rhinestones-and-false-lashes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the pair’s 2017 “DragTivism” conference\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No matter what happens Nov. 3, Tapia prescribes compassion to make it through the next four years.\u003cem>—Caitlin Donohue\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate of the United States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone is doing some sort of campaign, whether they’re joining \u003ca href=\"https://www.dragoutthevote2020.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drag Out the Vote\u003c/a>, to [politically active] ballroom houses, to creating makeup looks inspired to attract attention and tell people to vote. It is that crucial right now. We know what four years of the Trump presidency have already done, and what he can continue to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887665\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rexy Tapia: ‘With climate change and the policing of women’s bodies and the attacks against trans people, there might not even be a next 20 years for kids to live their lives if we don’t change now.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Especially after losing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, if we don’t act, there’s not going to be a future—for our younger siblings, our nieces and nephews. With climate change and the policing of women’s bodies and the attacks against trans people, there might not even be a next 20 years for kids to live their lives if we don’t change now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do think the pandemic has helped open people’s minds. We’re seeing other countries opening up and returning to normal—but the United States isn’t, and it’s because of our leadership. Right now, people have more time to be at home, to do research, to see the news, to see on their social media how important it is to change things now. We don’t have all our everyday distractions to keep us away from those things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s easy to feel ground down right now, and I think a lot of people are struggling with why they should participate in our current political system at all. If a young person says, “I’m not going to vote in this election. It doesn’t matter. The system is broken,” what’s your most compelling argument against that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think people take voting for granted. People are like, “Yeah, whatever. The system’s broken. [I’m not going to vote.]” But a lot of them don’t see how their actions are affecting people they really love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I always say the best way to talk to someone is to give them a face to the cause. [As a legal resident,] I can vote in some local measures, but I can’t vote in our presidential election. I don’t have my citizenship yet, and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get citizenship. As someone here on asylum, I don’t even know if going back to my home is going to be safe for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887667\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887667\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rexy Tapia: ‘We need to actively value the lives of Black trans women, Brown trans women, people in detention centers, people in prison. We need to show compassion.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I think a lot of people are like, “You’re choosing between two evils, what’s the point?” The point is that sometimes you’ve got to make a difficult decision to choose the lesser of two evils so you have a little more time to create that change. With Trump, we don’t know how much longer we’re going to have before he starts a war, before he runs our country into the ground. But with Biden, we can hold off that immediate threat, and we can have four years to build a national consciousness. And to continue to spread education so that we can vote for someone who’s not the lesser of two evils, someone who is going to help change the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s little bit by little bit that change happens. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we’re certainly not going to take it down in a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Moving past the presidential election, what are the items on California and San Francisco ballots this fall that you think that voters need to have their eye on? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These issues are really intersectional—starting with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-18-voting-17-year-olds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 18\u003c/a>, which would allow 17-year-olds who would be 18 by the next election to register to vote and to start voting on early measures. We say the youth are the future; why not give them more of an ability to create that change? What could be happening now if [younger people] had been able to vote in the 2016 election? Would we even have Trump as the president, or would [his 2016 candidacy] just be a joke by now? Giving youth that power and privilege, uplifting their voices is vital to our movement and to liberation. [aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other one that I really am hoping that people pay attention to is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-17-parole-vote\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 17\u003c/a>, which would restore voting rights to people on parole—people who have any kind of felony charges are kept from voting. If we look at who those people are, it’s predominantly Black and Brown people. We need to make it so that folks can vote so that we can start creating change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other one that’s very crucial is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-21-rent-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 21\u003c/a>, the initiative that would allow local governments to enact rent control on housing that has been occupied for over 15 years. I know what it’s like to have to move around and not have that solid foundation to create those lifelong friendships and focus on your studies. Rent control protects people of color, and immigrants specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-22-ab-5-gig-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 22\u003c/a>, [\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839164/poll-voters-cool-to-measure-backed-by-uber-and-lyft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">which would classify rideshare app drivers as independent contractors\u003c/a>]. These are big corporations trying to hold us hostage, like when they \u003ca href=\"https://sfist.com/2020/08/12/as-california-labor-case-heads-for-appeal-uber-says-it-may-halt-operations-in-state/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sent the message that they were going to close down [in California]\u003c/a> if the measure was passed—a very petty move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And on the San Francisco ballot, I’m talking about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/election-2020-san-francisco-county-proposition-d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. D\u003c/a>, the measure that would create a board that would overlook the sheriff’s department. A lot of people were out at the [racial justice] marches, taking selfies. It’s time for everyone to solidify that work by voting to hold these people accountable who attack our communities. Holding the sheriff’s department accountable by creating a board is something we can do now, and then eventually work towards defunding the police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important for everyone to really get out there and vote. If not for you, do it for me; do it for the children who can’t vote yet. Maybe there’s that person in your neighborhood who can’t vote because of past felonies. Do it for the next four years, to continue with the fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you use your role as a performer to build political strength in your community?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone is interested in drag in some capacity. If I’m in full drag and I stand on a busy street, at least a couple people are going to stop and take pictures—people are actually taking the time to pay attention to you. My drag mom Kylie Minono and Landa Lakes will stand in the Castro with signs that say “Drag Out The Vote” and be looking so glamorous and beautiful, and people stop, and they will register to vote, because they’re so fascinated by these glamazons standing in front of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887666\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rexy Tapia: ‘A lot of people were out at the [racial justice] marches, taking selfies. It’s time for everyone to solidify that work by voting to hold these people accountable who attack our communities.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We’re even seeing it in big-time media. Throughout the whole last season of \u003cem>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/em>, it was all about getting people out to vote. In almost every drag show right now, performers are reminding people to vote. Drag is going to be political no matter what, so you may as well make the message clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election, no matter how it goes, what are your hopes and goals for this country and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My hopes are that we start listening to people of color, specifically Black folks. That we, as a country, move toward creating justice and listening to First Nation people, Native people, Indigenous people. That’s something that we should have done in order to prevent many of the fires in California, specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to have conversations with our problematic uncles and aunties who think trans women are just men dressing up to attack women. We need to actively value the lives of Black trans women, Brown trans women, people in detention centers, people in prison. We need to show compassion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond what happens in the next election, I hope we learn to have compassion and to listen and lift up voices that have been ignored, and put them on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Rexy Tapia \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theoneandonlyrexy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Rexy Tapia breaks down the state and local measures that aim to help renters and create greater police accountability. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705020012,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":32,"wordCount":1881},"headData":{"title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Rexy Tapia, Activist and Drag Performer | KQED","description":"Rexy Tapia breaks down the state and local measures that aim to help renters and create greater police accountability. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What's On Your Ballot?: Rexy Tapia, Activist and Drag Performer","datePublished":"2020-10-09T15:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:40:12.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Caitlin Donohue","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/arts/13887146/whats-on-your-ballot-rexy-tapia-activist-and-drag-performer","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci data-stringify-type=\"italic\">In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">F\u003c/span>or \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13840309/for-the-one-and-only-rexy-the-best-is-yet-to-come\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rexy Tapia\u003c/a>, a crucial aspect of the fall election is who gets to turn in a ballot. The activist and performer grew up in Tijuana and moved to San Francisco at the age of 11, graduating from Mission High School in 2015. Tapia is a legal resident of the United States, but not a citizen, which means she’s not allowed to vote on anything besides some local measures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s no surprise that the co-founder of the Bay Area Queer Nightlife Coalition, who fought for the safety of her fellow trans and gender non-conforming students at Mission High, is keenly interested in this fall’s California ballot measures that would expand voting rights—specifically, to young people and to individuals on parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The four-time host of the Trans March stage often uses drag to make her political points, recently appearing in an online commemoration of the Compton’s Cafeteria uprising. But Tapia’s performance praxis actually started back in high school, with her early show “The Rexy Project,” which employed drag to foster dialogue around race, gender, and immigration—work she continued with Grace Towers in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13859216/dragtivism-teaches-lgbtq-history-and-empowerment-with-rhinestones-and-false-lashes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the pair’s 2017 “DragTivism” conference\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No matter what happens Nov. 3, Tapia prescribes compassion to make it through the next four years.\u003cem>—Caitlin Donohue\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate of the United States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone is doing some sort of campaign, whether they’re joining \u003ca href=\"https://www.dragoutthevote2020.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drag Out the Vote\u003c/a>, to [politically active] ballroom houses, to creating makeup looks inspired to attract attention and tell people to vote. It is that crucial right now. We know what four years of the Trump presidency have already done, and what he can continue to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887665\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887665\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/012_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rexy Tapia: ‘With climate change and the policing of women’s bodies and the attacks against trans people, there might not even be a next 20 years for kids to live their lives if we don’t change now.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Especially after losing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, if we don’t act, there’s not going to be a future—for our younger siblings, our nieces and nephews. With climate change and the policing of women’s bodies and the attacks against trans people, there might not even be a next 20 years for kids to live their lives if we don’t change now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do think the pandemic has helped open people’s minds. We’re seeing other countries opening up and returning to normal—but the United States isn’t, and it’s because of our leadership. Right now, people have more time to be at home, to do research, to see the news, to see on their social media how important it is to change things now. We don’t have all our everyday distractions to keep us away from those things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s easy to feel ground down right now, and I think a lot of people are struggling with why they should participate in our current political system at all. If a young person says, “I’m not going to vote in this election. It doesn’t matter. The system is broken,” what’s your most compelling argument against that?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think people take voting for granted. People are like, “Yeah, whatever. The system’s broken. [I’m not going to vote.]” But a lot of them don’t see how their actions are affecting people they really love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I always say the best way to talk to someone is to give them a face to the cause. [As a legal resident,] I can vote in some local measures, but I can’t vote in our presidential election. I don’t have my citizenship yet, and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get citizenship. As someone here on asylum, I don’t even know if going back to my home is going to be safe for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887667\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887667\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/023_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-768x1152.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rexy Tapia: ‘We need to actively value the lives of Black trans women, Brown trans women, people in detention centers, people in prison. We need to show compassion.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I think a lot of people are like, “You’re choosing between two evils, what’s the point?” The point is that sometimes you’ve got to make a difficult decision to choose the lesser of two evils so you have a little more time to create that change. With Trump, we don’t know how much longer we’re going to have before he starts a war, before he runs our country into the ground. But with Biden, we can hold off that immediate threat, and we can have four years to build a national consciousness. And to continue to spread education so that we can vote for someone who’s not the lesser of two evils, someone who is going to help change the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s little bit by little bit that change happens. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we’re certainly not going to take it down in a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Moving past the presidential election, what are the items on California and San Francisco ballots this fall that you think that voters need to have their eye on? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These issues are really intersectional—starting with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-18-voting-17-year-olds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 18\u003c/a>, which would allow 17-year-olds who would be 18 by the next election to register to vote and to start voting on early measures. We say the youth are the future; why not give them more of an ability to create that change? What could be happening now if [younger people] had been able to vote in the 2016 election? Would we even have Trump as the president, or would [his 2016 candidacy] just be a joke by now? Giving youth that power and privilege, uplifting their voices is vital to our movement and to liberation. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other one that I really am hoping that people pay attention to is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-17-parole-vote\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 17\u003c/a>, which would restore voting rights to people on parole—people who have any kind of felony charges are kept from voting. If we look at who those people are, it’s predominantly Black and Brown people. We need to make it so that folks can vote so that we can start creating change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other one that’s very crucial is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-21-rent-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 21\u003c/a>, the initiative that would allow local governments to enact rent control on housing that has been occupied for over 15 years. I know what it’s like to have to move around and not have that solid foundation to create those lifelong friendships and focus on your studies. Rent control protects people of color, and immigrants specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/proposition-22-ab-5-gig-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. 22\u003c/a>, [\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839164/poll-voters-cool-to-measure-backed-by-uber-and-lyft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">which would classify rideshare app drivers as independent contractors\u003c/a>]. These are big corporations trying to hold us hostage, like when they \u003ca href=\"https://sfist.com/2020/08/12/as-california-labor-case-heads-for-appeal-uber-says-it-may-halt-operations-in-state/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sent the message that they were going to close down [in California]\u003c/a> if the measure was passed—a very petty move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And on the San Francisco ballot, I’m talking about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/election-2020-san-francisco-county-proposition-d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Prop. D\u003c/a>, the measure that would create a board that would overlook the sheriff’s department. A lot of people were out at the [racial justice] marches, taking selfies. It’s time for everyone to solidify that work by voting to hold these people accountable who attack our communities. Holding the sheriff’s department accountable by creating a board is something we can do now, and then eventually work towards defunding the police.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important for everyone to really get out there and vote. If not for you, do it for me; do it for the children who can’t vote yet. Maybe there’s that person in your neighborhood who can’t vote because of past felonies. Do it for the next four years, to continue with the fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you use your role as a performer to build political strength in your community?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everyone is interested in drag in some capacity. If I’m in full drag and I stand on a busy street, at least a couple people are going to stop and take pictures—people are actually taking the time to pay attention to you. My drag mom Kylie Minono and Landa Lakes will stand in the Castro with signs that say “Drag Out The Vote” and be looking so glamorous and beautiful, and people stop, and they will register to vote, because they’re so fascinated by these glamazons standing in front of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887666\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13887666\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/10/006_KQEDArts_ElectionPortraits_RexyAmaral_10072020.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rexy Tapia: ‘A lot of people were out at the [racial justice] marches, taking selfies. It’s time for everyone to solidify that work by voting to hold these people accountable who attack our communities.’ \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We’re even seeing it in big-time media. Throughout the whole last season of \u003cem>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/em>, it was all about getting people out to vote. In almost every drag show right now, performers are reminding people to vote. Drag is going to be political no matter what, so you may as well make the message clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election, no matter how it goes, what are your hopes and goals for this country and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My hopes are that we start listening to people of color, specifically Black folks. That we, as a country, move toward creating justice and listening to First Nation people, Native people, Indigenous people. That’s something that we should have done in order to prevent many of the fires in California, specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We need to have conversations with our problematic uncles and aunties who think trans women are just men dressing up to attack women. We need to actively value the lives of Black trans women, Brown trans women, people in detention centers, people in prison. We need to show compassion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond what happens in the next election, I hope we learn to have compassion and to listen and lift up voices that have been ignored, and put them on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Rexy Tapia \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theoneandonlyrexy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887146/whats-on-your-ballot-rexy-tapia-activist-and-drag-performer","authors":["byline_arts_13887146"],"categories":["arts_1"],"tags":["arts_1556","arts_10278","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887668","label":"arts"},"arts_13887627":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887627","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887627","score":null,"sort":[1602169220000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-usha-srinivasan-event-producer-and-dancer","title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Usha Srinivasan, Event Producer and Dancer","publishDate":1602169220,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Usha Srinivasan, Event Producer and Dancer | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">C\u003c/span>onsidering its vast resources and highly educated population, Silicon Valley has surprisingly thin soil when it comes to building and sustaining cultural institutions. That’s never daunted Usha Srinivasan, the co-founder and president of \u003ca href=\"https://sangamarts.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sangam Arts\u003c/a>, the Saratoga-based non-profit that seeks to create and nurture connections between the Valley’s different cultures using traditional arts as a vehicle. One of the region’s visionary arts leaders, she promotes an embracing concept of American citizenship that celebrates ancestral ties while forging new identities via shared creative experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born and raised in the Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Srinivasan came to the United States in 1990 for a graduate degree in electrical engineering and moved to the Bay Area in 1995 to attend Stanford Business School. After years working in high tech, she launched Sangam Arts in 2013 with Priya Das to present classical Indian dance. The organization has evolved into an innovative, award-winning arts presenters with the Mosaic Silicon Valley program, which seeks to foster cross-cultural conversations by combining a diverse array of ethnic art forms in multimedia productions.\u003cem>—Andrew Gilbert\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a very important election, kind of a defining moment in our history. The outcome will really determine the quality of life for Americans and the nature of American society going forward, and whether all of us feel we belong or not. I don’t think most people really thought we’d find ourselves at this turn. We thought a lot of the battles that had to do with race and inclusion were in the past. We thought we were post-racial. And we found out that there’s a lot more healing to be done and many more issues to be addressed. And now that we know that we have a choice, do we address that in a way that really reflects our core American values? Or do we want to veer off and become a fascist society?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887200\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887200\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Usha Srinivasan: ‘The outcome [of the election] will really determine the quality of life for Americans and the nature of American society going forward, and whether all of us feel we belong or not.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>With the tremendous power and influence of social media, Silicon Valley has become a focus in this election. As an artist and someone deeply involved in promoting women in STEM fields, how do you weigh and balance the impact of companies like Facebook and Twitter on American politics? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think for most of us social media has turned out to be like boiling the frog. Most of us didn’t quite realize the detrimental effects of handing this kind of power to these networks. Now we find ourselves in this bind where it’s very difficult to disconnect because that is our interaction with this world, whether we like it or not. In my work in the arts it’s almost impossible for a small organization to find an audience the traditional way, with fliers or ads. We’ve all found ourselves deeply entrenched in social networks, and we’re finding out that the technology is far ahead of our ability as social animals to adapt. [aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, being able to tell truth from fiction. People look at what’s happening online and assume they are real and true which leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by bad actors. We literally are not equipped to handle this as a society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What response have you seen from the Desi community regarding Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was absolute exuberance. The South Asian community overall is very diverse, but I come from a Tamil family and that picture of Kamala Harris with her sister and grandparents could easily have come from my family photo album. You feel this kinship. She used this word ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/20/chittis-kamala-harris-dnc-tamil/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">chittis\u003c/a>,’ which, very specifically in my mother tongue of Tamil, means a mother’s younger sister or a father’s younger brother’s wife. Chitti is like a little mom. We were all raised in families with big moms and little moms, big dads and little dads. We’re were raised by a village, and we all had a throwback to our younger days. That one word she uttered about family instantly made an entire generation of Indian American women not only feel connected to her, but that we belonged here in America. So she has not only made us proud, but she’s made us feel like we too belong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What performances or works of art have you seen in the last four years that capture this surreal moment or respond effectively to what’s going on in the country? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I came here to go to business school in ’95, Silicon Valley was still two-thirds white, and the rest Hispanic, Asian and others. In the intervening 25 years, we have gone through enormous demographic changes in a very short period of time. The performances that are most compelling to me are the ones that reflect this changing community. One of the issues I grapple with is the lack of social cohesion in Silicon Valley. Even as we become more diverse, we are less integrated. You have entire communities that are quite content to live in their own silos. That represents a missed opportunity to express the true potential of America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887205\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887205\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Usha Srinivasan: ‘[Kamala Harris] has not only made us proud, but she’s made us feel like we too belong.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The way to break that down is through the arts, because art offers a universal language. For me the most compelling works of art are those that help bring both artists and disciplines from different communities together as a way of bringing audiences from those different cultures together. What creates bonds are shared experiences, as well as a shared understanding of history and a shared vision of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now in Silicon Valley, 40 to 50 percent of people came from elsewhere, so they don’t have a shared understanding of history. People like me didn’t need to take a history exam to become a citizen. I had to take a civics exam. A lot of us didn’t know about the Ohlone or know about slavery. And then there are the latest stats that say for various reasons—transportation, cost of living—40 to 50 percent don’t see themselves living here 20 or 30 years, including people who were born and raised here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You don’t share a past. You don’t see a future together. How do you build community? I think the arts provide a great way of creating those shared experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obviously I am an ultra-progressive liberal and I have come to realize that I have taken so much for granted. I’m in the process of examining my own privileges as an Indian American. I may look like a person of color, but the truth is, at this time here and given my background, I have all the privileges of my white brothers and sisters. I’m not saying that’s true of everyone. In the wake of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd, I’m realizing how broken the system is and how much work remains to be done. My hope is, inshallah, the Democrats win, but I hope we hold their feet to the fire and realize there’s a lot of work to be done. We can’t just tap into the Black vote, especially Black women, to help our candidates win and then forget them. We need to be just as vocal as we are against Trump in terms of systemic injustice, voter suppression and inequality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887196\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887196 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Usha Srinivasan: ‘We thought a lot of the battles that had to do with race and inclusion were in the past. … And we found out that there’s a lot more healing to be done and many more issues to be addressed.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I’m hoping now that we’ve come so close to the brink, hopefully we’ll be more thoughtful and go back and make sure we never make these mistakes again. In the United States, it’s an idealistic country and a lot of systems are designed to rely on the honor code. And when you have dishonorable people taking advantage of the system, the system breaks down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m hoping I can rededicate my life to being a powerful ally for those who have been left behind. It bothers me so much that the top billionaires have made a trillion dollars during the pandemic. It bothers me so much that I live in Saratoga where we want for nothing, but the people that tend to our lawns and watch our kids and clean our homes are living three to four families in one house 10 miles from here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s immoral, and unsustainable, and not the way to build a harmonious society. I’m hoping that we’ll take a moment to celebrate, but regardless of what happens we have to fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Usha Srinivasan \u003ca href=\"https://sangamarts.org/about/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The president of Silicon Valley’s Sangam Arts reflects on Kamala Harris’ historic candidacy and how to build a more inclusive America. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705020015,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":24,"wordCount":1733},"headData":{"title":"What's On Your Ballot?: Usha Srinivasan, Event Producer and Dancer | KQED","description":"The president of Silicon Valley’s Sangam Arts reflects on Kamala Harris’ historic candidacy and how to build a more inclusive America. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What's On Your Ballot?: Usha Srinivasan, Event Producer and Dancer","datePublished":"2020-10-08T15:00:20.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:40:15.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/arts/13887627/whats-on-your-ballot-usha-srinivasan-event-producer-and-dancer","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">C\u003c/span>onsidering its vast resources and highly educated population, Silicon Valley has surprisingly thin soil when it comes to building and sustaining cultural institutions. That’s never daunted Usha Srinivasan, the co-founder and president of \u003ca href=\"https://sangamarts.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sangam Arts\u003c/a>, the Saratoga-based non-profit that seeks to create and nurture connections between the Valley’s different cultures using traditional arts as a vehicle. One of the region’s visionary arts leaders, she promotes an embracing concept of American citizenship that celebrates ancestral ties while forging new identities via shared creative experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born and raised in the Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Srinivasan came to the United States in 1990 for a graduate degree in electrical engineering and moved to the Bay Area in 1995 to attend Stanford Business School. After years working in high tech, she launched Sangam Arts in 2013 with Priya Das to present classical Indian dance. The organization has evolved into an innovative, award-winning arts presenters with the Mosaic Silicon Valley program, which seeks to foster cross-cultural conversations by combining a diverse array of ethnic art forms in multimedia productions.\u003cem>—Andrew Gilbert\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is a very important election, kind of a defining moment in our history. The outcome will really determine the quality of life for Americans and the nature of American society going forward, and whether all of us feel we belong or not. I don’t think most people really thought we’d find ourselves at this turn. We thought a lot of the battles that had to do with race and inclusion were in the past. We thought we were post-racial. And we found out that there’s a lot more healing to be done and many more issues to be addressed. And now that we know that we have a choice, do we address that in a way that really reflects our core American values? Or do we want to veer off and become a fascist society?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887200\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887200\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9925-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Usha Srinivasan: ‘The outcome [of the election] will really determine the quality of life for Americans and the nature of American society going forward, and whether all of us feel we belong or not.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>With the tremendous power and influence of social media, Silicon Valley has become a focus in this election. As an artist and someone deeply involved in promoting women in STEM fields, how do you weigh and balance the impact of companies like Facebook and Twitter on American politics? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think for most of us social media has turned out to be like boiling the frog. Most of us didn’t quite realize the detrimental effects of handing this kind of power to these networks. Now we find ourselves in this bind where it’s very difficult to disconnect because that is our interaction with this world, whether we like it or not. In my work in the arts it’s almost impossible for a small organization to find an audience the traditional way, with fliers or ads. We’ve all found ourselves deeply entrenched in social networks, and we’re finding out that the technology is far ahead of our ability as social animals to adapt. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, being able to tell truth from fiction. People look at what’s happening online and assume they are real and true which leaves us vulnerable to manipulation by bad actors. We literally are not equipped to handle this as a society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What response have you seen from the Desi community regarding Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was absolute exuberance. The South Asian community overall is very diverse, but I come from a Tamil family and that picture of Kamala Harris with her sister and grandparents could easily have come from my family photo album. You feel this kinship. She used this word ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/20/chittis-kamala-harris-dnc-tamil/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">chittis\u003c/a>,’ which, very specifically in my mother tongue of Tamil, means a mother’s younger sister or a father’s younger brother’s wife. Chitti is like a little mom. We were all raised in families with big moms and little moms, big dads and little dads. We’re were raised by a village, and we all had a throwback to our younger days. That one word she uttered about family instantly made an entire generation of Indian American women not only feel connected to her, but that we belonged here in America. So she has not only made us proud, but she’s made us feel like we too belong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What performances or works of art have you seen in the last four years that capture this surreal moment or respond effectively to what’s going on in the country? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I came here to go to business school in ’95, Silicon Valley was still two-thirds white, and the rest Hispanic, Asian and others. In the intervening 25 years, we have gone through enormous demographic changes in a very short period of time. The performances that are most compelling to me are the ones that reflect this changing community. One of the issues I grapple with is the lack of social cohesion in Silicon Valley. Even as we become more diverse, we are less integrated. You have entire communities that are quite content to live in their own silos. That represents a missed opportunity to express the true potential of America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887205\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887205\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9936-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Usha Srinivasan: ‘[Kamala Harris] has not only made us proud, but she’s made us feel like we too belong.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The way to break that down is through the arts, because art offers a universal language. For me the most compelling works of art are those that help bring both artists and disciplines from different communities together as a way of bringing audiences from those different cultures together. What creates bonds are shared experiences, as well as a shared understanding of history and a shared vision of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now in Silicon Valley, 40 to 50 percent of people came from elsewhere, so they don’t have a shared understanding of history. People like me didn’t need to take a history exam to become a citizen. I had to take a civics exam. A lot of us didn’t know about the Ohlone or know about slavery. And then there are the latest stats that say for various reasons—transportation, cost of living—40 to 50 percent don’t see themselves living here 20 or 30 years, including people who were born and raised here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You don’t share a past. You don’t see a future together. How do you build community? I think the arts provide a great way of creating those shared experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obviously I am an ultra-progressive liberal and I have come to realize that I have taken so much for granted. I’m in the process of examining my own privileges as an Indian American. I may look like a person of color, but the truth is, at this time here and given my background, I have all the privileges of my white brothers and sisters. I’m not saying that’s true of everyone. In the wake of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd, I’m realizing how broken the system is and how much work remains to be done. My hope is, inshallah, the Democrats win, but I hope we hold their feet to the fire and realize there’s a lot of work to be done. We can’t just tap into the Black vote, especially Black women, to help our candidates win and then forget them. We need to be just as vocal as we are against Trump in terms of systemic injustice, voter suppression and inequality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887196\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887196 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9906-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Usha Srinivasan: ‘We thought a lot of the battles that had to do with race and inclusion were in the past. … And we found out that there’s a lot more healing to be done and many more issues to be addressed.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I’m hoping now that we’ve come so close to the brink, hopefully we’ll be more thoughtful and go back and make sure we never make these mistakes again. In the United States, it’s an idealistic country and a lot of systems are designed to rely on the honor code. And when you have dishonorable people taking advantage of the system, the system breaks down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m hoping I can rededicate my life to being a powerful ally for those who have been left behind. It bothers me so much that the top billionaires have made a trillion dollars during the pandemic. It bothers me so much that I live in Saratoga where we want for nothing, but the people that tend to our lawns and watch our kids and clean our homes are living three to four families in one house 10 miles from here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s immoral, and unsustainable, and not the way to build a harmonious society. I’m hoping that we’ll take a moment to celebrate, but regardless of what happens we have to fight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Usha Srinivasan \u003ca href=\"https://sangamarts.org/about/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887627/whats-on-your-ballot-usha-srinivasan-event-producer-and-dancer","authors":["86"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_835","arts_966","arts_235"],"tags":["arts_879","arts_10112","arts_10278","arts_10422","arts_5826","arts_3001","arts_1935","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887204","label":"arts"},"arts_13887073":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887073","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887073","score":null,"sort":[1602082800000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-artist-lava-thomas","title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Artist Lava Thomas","publishDate":1602082800,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Artist Lava Thomas | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he morning \u003ca href=\"http://www.lavathomas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lava Thomas\u003c/a> speaks to me, she is spent. It’s been a rough week: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and days later a Kentucky grand jury declined to charge any officers with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839319/deeply-wrong-bay-area-reacts-to-grand-jury-decision-in-death-of-breonna-taylor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the killing of Breonna Taylor\u003c/a>, the 26-year-old Black medical worker who was shot while asleep in her own home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this very moment I’m pretty burned out and exhausted,” Thomas says over the phone from Berkeley, where the multidisciplinary visual artist lives. That feeling has been ever-present for her—not only in the past year, as controversy swirled around her work when the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13884238/sfac-apologizes-to-lava-thomas-for-mishandling-maya-angelou-monument\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco Art Commission selected, then dubiously rejected Thomas for a major Maya Angelou monument\u003c/a>—but also generally in the last four years of the Trump era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time, I’m also somewhat hopeful because folks are energized,” adds Thomas. “Folks are mobilized to get out and vote because we see what’s at stake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas, who was recently announced as \u003ca href=\"https://artadia.org/news/announcing-the-2020-san-francisco-artadia-awardees/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the recipient of a 2020 San Francisco Artadia Award\u003c/a>, describes her work as that which amplifies “resilience, healing and empowerment in the face of oppression and trauma”—a tension that strikes at the heart of daily life in a dark year, and in some ways feels like what’s on the ballot itself in the upcoming election. Thomas spoke with me about her state of mind going into November.\u003cem>—Brandon Yu\u003c/em>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,KQED 2020 California Voter Guide: All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where do I even start? We’re living in a country that’s more polarized than ever, I believe, in my lifetime, and under a president who denies science, a president who lies, and a president who leads by stoking hatred and division and creating chaos. We’re also living in a country where acts of racial terrorism and state-sanctioned violence are rising and casual racism has become more normalized and blatant. You have this against the backdrop of a global pandemic that kills Black and brown people at disproportionate numbers in this country, and during a time where climate change is just wreaking havoc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So we’re living in a time of crisis—social crisis, health crisis, political crisis. I believe our democracy is under attack. I can remember a time when I could have a respectful, civil conversation with someone with whom I disagreed politically. But now the level of political discourse has devolved into name-calling and labeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I also believe that because of this, more people are politically engaged. As we’ve seen with Black Lives Matter protests and activism, people of all races and all ages are out protesting against the status quo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"913\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-800x609.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-1020x776.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-160x122.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-768x584.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lava Thomas, ‘Study for Pandemic Portrait (Mask, Negative Space),’ 2020; Graphite, conté pencil and watercolor on paper, 9 x 11 3/4 inches. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Many are calling this the most important election of our lifetime. Do you agree with that view?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I agree with that, yes. We have to vote Trump out of office like our lives depend on it, because honestly our lives literally do depend on who wins this election. Trump’s incompetence and gross mishandling of the pandemic, his disbelief in science around the pandemic and climate change—it’s almost equivalent to murder in my opinion. We have over 200,000 deaths of COVID-19 in this country and over 7 million people infected. And Trump knew of this threat early on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is foremost in your mind as our collective response if Trump is re-elected?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Trump is re-elected I think we really need to focus on flipping the Senate so that there are some checks and balances restored in the executive branch. But quite honestly I have not really considered what the aftermath of Trump’s re-election would be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is that an act of mental self-preservation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, definitely. Because most of us are already living in a state of anxiety. For me personally I have to at least try to do everything that I can and hope that come November that we’ll have a different president in office. I have to hold onto that hope and not imagine the horrors of another Trump presidency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13836137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13836137\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Lava Thomas’s 'Resistance Reverb: Movement 1,' 2018; Right: 'Resistance Reverb: Movement 2,' 2018, exploring the topic of solidarity.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Lava Thomas’s ‘Resistance Reverb: Movement 1,’ 2018; Right: ‘Resistance Reverb: Movement 2,’ 2018, exploring the topic of solidarity. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist and di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa; Photo by Johnna Arnold)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What should our response be if Biden wins? It doesn’t mean that everything will be solved.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, it doesn’t mean everything is solved. I think Biden will attempt to heal the polarization and division in this country. That he will lead by example, and that he will surround himself with the people who will address issues of racial injustice and equity. He’ll surround himself with scientists. He will put a plan into place to deal with the pandemic that is led by science. And he’ll surround himself with good people. I also hope that there will be a return to civil discourse. But this country was built on systemic racism, which goes back centuries. So there’s not going to be an easy or short fix to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you see meaningful change on issues of racial injustice coming out of the election? Biden, for instance, has said he doesn’t support defunding the police.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, he doesn’t support defunding the police. Police reform and accountability are perhaps possible. But I don’t think that fully defunding the police is going to happen in my lifetime. I think it’s going to take a very long time before that goal is accomplished, if at all, to be quite honest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thinking about this moment of racial reckoning, and looking at, just for me personally, the number of emails I’ve received from different organizations, from the schools that my son has attended, the kinds of conversations that I’ve been a part of—for some people it’s really the first time (they have) understood how racism operates in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13841178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1414px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13841178\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford.jpg\" alt=\"Lava Thomas, 'Audrey Belle Langford,' 2018.\" width=\"1414\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford.jpg 1414w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-160x226.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-800x1132.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-1020x1443.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-848x1200.jpg 848w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-1180x1669.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-960x1358.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-240x339.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-375x530.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-520x736.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1414px) 100vw, 1414px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lava Thomas, ‘Audrey Belle Langford,’ 2018. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you feel hopeful about the future?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do have hope. And I believe in the power of protest. Without global protests, we wouldn’t have companies looking at systemic racism within their own ranks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living in a state of hopelessness is just admitting defeat. And if there’s anything that this country’s history has shown us, it’s that we go through periods where there’s progress, and we go through periods where there’s backlash. And I am hoping we can enter into a period of progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m looking at the big issues. For me, particularly against the backdrop of the pandemic, affordable and accessible health care is really important. The defense of Roe v. Wade so that women, especially poor women, aren’t forced to bear children that they can’t adequately (support). Equal access to quality education. An end to the prison industrial complex. And police reform and accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hopeful to imagine a more just and equitable future. As long as we can hold that in our collective imagination, then we have the vision to do what’s necessary to attempt to make it happen. That’s what I hold on to, despite everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Lava Thomas \u003ca href=\"http://www.lavathomas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Berkeley-based multidisciplinary visual artist believes this is the most important election of our lives.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705020024,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":30,"wordCount":1455},"headData":{"title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Artist Lava Thomas | KQED","description":"The Berkeley-based multidisciplinary visual artist believes this is the most important election of our lives.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Artist Lava Thomas","datePublished":"2020-10-07T15:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:40:24.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"nprByline":"Brandon Yu","templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","path":"/arts/13887073/whats-on-your-ballot-artist-lava-thomas","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot?\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">T\u003c/span>he morning \u003ca href=\"http://www.lavathomas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lava Thomas\u003c/a> speaks to me, she is spent. It’s been a rough week: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and days later a Kentucky grand jury declined to charge any officers with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839319/deeply-wrong-bay-area-reacts-to-grand-jury-decision-in-death-of-breonna-taylor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the killing of Breonna Taylor\u003c/a>, the 26-year-old Black medical worker who was shot while asleep in her own home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this very moment I’m pretty burned out and exhausted,” Thomas says over the phone from Berkeley, where the multidisciplinary visual artist lives. That feeling has been ever-present for her—not only in the past year, as controversy swirled around her work when the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13884238/sfac-apologizes-to-lava-thomas-for-mishandling-maya-angelou-monument\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco Art Commission selected, then dubiously rejected Thomas for a major Maya Angelou monument\u003c/a>—but also generally in the last four years of the Trump era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time, I’m also somewhat hopeful because folks are energized,” adds Thomas. “Folks are mobilized to get out and vote because we see what’s at stake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas, who was recently announced as \u003ca href=\"https://artadia.org/news/announcing-the-2020-san-francisco-artadia-awardees/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the recipient of a 2020 San Francisco Artadia Award\u003c/a>, describes her work as that which amplifies “resilience, healing and empowerment in the face of oppression and trauma”—a tension that strikes at the heart of daily life in a dark year, and in some ways feels like what’s on the ballot itself in the upcoming election. Thomas spoke with me about her state of mind going into November.\u003cem>—Brandon Yu\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,KQED 2020 California Voter Guide: All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in America today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Where do I even start? We’re living in a country that’s more polarized than ever, I believe, in my lifetime, and under a president who denies science, a president who lies, and a president who leads by stoking hatred and division and creating chaos. We’re also living in a country where acts of racial terrorism and state-sanctioned violence are rising and casual racism has become more normalized and blatant. You have this against the backdrop of a global pandemic that kills Black and brown people at disproportionate numbers in this country, and during a time where climate change is just wreaking havoc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So we’re living in a time of crisis—social crisis, health crisis, political crisis. I believe our democracy is under attack. I can remember a time when I could have a respectful, civil conversation with someone with whom I disagreed politically. But now the level of political discourse has devolved into name-calling and labeling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I also believe that because of this, more people are politically engaged. As we’ve seen with Black Lives Matter protests and activism, people of all races and all ages are out protesting against the status quo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13887298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"913\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-800x609.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-1020x776.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-160x122.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/StudyForPandemicPortrait_LavaThomas_HiRes_2020_1200-768x584.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lava Thomas, ‘Study for Pandemic Portrait (Mask, Negative Space),’ 2020; Graphite, conté pencil and watercolor on paper, 9 x 11 3/4 inches. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the artist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Many are calling this the most important election of our lifetime. Do you agree with that view?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I agree with that, yes. We have to vote Trump out of office like our lives depend on it, because honestly our lives literally do depend on who wins this election. Trump’s incompetence and gross mishandling of the pandemic, his disbelief in science around the pandemic and climate change—it’s almost equivalent to murder in my opinion. We have over 200,000 deaths of COVID-19 in this country and over 7 million people infected. And Trump knew of this threat early on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is foremost in your mind as our collective response if Trump is re-elected?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Trump is re-elected I think we really need to focus on flipping the Senate so that there are some checks and balances restored in the executive branch. But quite honestly I have not really considered what the aftermath of Trump’s re-election would be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is that an act of mental self-preservation?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, definitely. Because most of us are already living in a state of anxiety. For me personally I have to at least try to do everything that I can and hope that come November that we’ll have a different president in office. I have to hold onto that hope and not imagine the horrors of another Trump presidency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13836137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13836137\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Lava Thomas’s 'Resistance Reverb: Movement 1,' 2018; Right: 'Resistance Reverb: Movement 2,' 2018, exploring the topic of solidarity.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/06/diRosa_BNS2_press_07_1200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Lava Thomas’s ‘Resistance Reverb: Movement 1,’ 2018; Right: ‘Resistance Reverb: Movement 2,’ 2018, exploring the topic of solidarity. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the artist and di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa; Photo by Johnna Arnold)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What should our response be if Biden wins? It doesn’t mean that everything will be solved.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, it doesn’t mean everything is solved. I think Biden will attempt to heal the polarization and division in this country. That he will lead by example, and that he will surround himself with the people who will address issues of racial injustice and equity. He’ll surround himself with scientists. He will put a plan into place to deal with the pandemic that is led by science. And he’ll surround himself with good people. I also hope that there will be a return to civil discourse. But this country was built on systemic racism, which goes back centuries. So there’s not going to be an easy or short fix to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you see meaningful change on issues of racial injustice coming out of the election? Biden, for instance, has said he doesn’t support defunding the police.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, he doesn’t support defunding the police. Police reform and accountability are perhaps possible. But I don’t think that fully defunding the police is going to happen in my lifetime. I think it’s going to take a very long time before that goal is accomplished, if at all, to be quite honest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thinking about this moment of racial reckoning, and looking at, just for me personally, the number of emails I’ve received from different organizations, from the schools that my son has attended, the kinds of conversations that I’ve been a part of—for some people it’s really the first time (they have) understood how racism operates in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13841178\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1414px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13841178\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford.jpg\" alt=\"Lava Thomas, 'Audrey Belle Langford,' 2018.\" width=\"1414\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford.jpg 1414w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-160x226.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-800x1132.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-768x1086.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-1020x1443.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-848x1200.jpg 848w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-1180x1669.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-960x1358.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-240x339.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-375x530.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/09/Thomas-2018-Audrey-Belle-Langford-520x736.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1414px) 100vw, 1414px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lava Thomas, ‘Audrey Belle Langford,’ 2018. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you feel hopeful about the future?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do have hope. And I believe in the power of protest. Without global protests, we wouldn’t have companies looking at systemic racism within their own ranks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living in a state of hopelessness is just admitting defeat. And if there’s anything that this country’s history has shown us, it’s that we go through periods where there’s progress, and we go through periods where there’s backlash. And I am hoping we can enter into a period of progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m looking at the big issues. For me, particularly against the backdrop of the pandemic, affordable and accessible health care is really important. The defense of Roe v. Wade so that women, especially poor women, aren’t forced to bear children that they can’t adequately (support). Equal access to quality education. An end to the prison industrial complex. And police reform and accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hopeful to imagine a more just and equitable future. As long as we can hold that in our collective imagination, then we have the vision to do what’s necessary to attempt to make it happen. That’s what I hold on to, despite everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Lava Thomas \u003ca href=\"http://www.lavathomas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887073/whats-on-your-ballot-artist-lava-thomas","authors":["byline_arts_13887073"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_70"],"tags":["arts_10112","arts_10278","arts_5206","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887299","label":"arts"},"arts_13887169":{"type":"posts","id":"arts_13887169","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"arts","id":"13887169","score":null,"sort":[1601996437000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-on-your-ballot-ruby-ibarra-rapper-and-scientist","title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Ruby Ibarra, Rapper and COVID-19 Researcher","publishDate":1601996437,"format":"standard","headTitle":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Ruby Ibarra, Rapper and COVID-19 Researcher | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"arts"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">R\u003c/span>uby Ibarra makes transcending boundaries seem normal: During the day, Ibarra works at a biotech company, joining researchers around the world in the fight for a COVID-19 vaccine. Outside her 9-to-5, she’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.rubyibarra.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one of the fiercest rappers in the Bay Area\u003c/a>. In the last few years, the Filipino-American artist has gained a following for her cutting lyrics, commanding rhythmic style and multilingual approach. (Ibarra often flows between English, Tagalog and Waray, a language native to Tacloban City, her hometown in the Philippines.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond her music, Ibarra is politically active on social media, encouraging her followers to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, support the Black Lives Matter movement and speak out against repression of civil liberties in the Philippines. For Ibarra, 2020 has illustrated just how intensely this country is riddled with divisions—divisions she hopes can be broken down as we move into November and beyond.\u003cem>—Eda Yu\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"From KQED's California Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,KQED 2020 California Voter Guide: All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures' hero=https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in the United States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Especially for people in my generation, I hope that everyone’s been paying attention to what’s going on in this country—especially in terms of race relations and, more recently, how those in power are approaching this global pandemic. I hope those are factors people consider in this upcoming election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m not here to sway anybody’s vote one way or the other. It’s more important to me that everybody goes out to the polls, submits mail-in ballots, and really makes their voice heard in this upcoming election. I see this as the most important election so far in my lifetime. This year has shown how divided this country can be, and I just hope that after the election, we can find more common ground as a nation. I understand that everybody has different beliefs, especially in a melting pot like America, but I do urge people to consider the effects of our votes in a long-term sense. Whatever candidate that you choose, I hope people think about how it’s going to affect everybody else—if it’s going to drive this country into a more positive space—and not to go at it in a selfish way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s about the long-term, bigger picture consequences of what your actions are right now.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I’m not here to say that a vote is going to fix all our problems. As we’ve seen with this current president, it can even mobilize and embolden certain communities in this country that were afraid to speak up before. I just want people to consider the long-term effects of their choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCd3iSfnWSw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>With COVID-19 and intense climate change, this year really highlighted our country’s lack of trust in science. What’s your take on that as a scientist?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honestly, how people have approached this pandemic—with people being anti-maskers or even anti-vaxxers—it’s very frustrating for me. Having a background in science, growing up loving the sciences and seeing them as [describing] how the world works, to see this much distrust now confuses me. We need to remember that this isn’t about scientists dictating how we should operate. [Believing in COVID-19] is about public health safety and whether we’re going to be stuck in this pandemic for an additional year. This is a community effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We all play a part in this pandemic, and [how we behave] will determine how long we’re gonna be in this situation: how long we’re going to be in quarantine, how much longer death rates and infection rates increase. We saw a lot of people [this year] neglecting or dismissing a lot of Dr. Fauci’s comments around how to better protect ourselves. Over and over again, I’ll advise my followers to follow \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the guidelines set by the CDC\u003c/a>. These guidelines were set in place for a reason, and wearing a mask, practicing social distancing—it’s like wearing a seatbelt. You don’t really have to do it. But at the end of the day, it is going to lower the rates of infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is at stake if people don’t do their part to beat COVID-19?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s at stake is everybody’s lives. Everybody’s safety. Everybody’s freedom to gain any sense of normalcy again. If we continue down this route of people throwing these parties and everybody hanging out with their friends like it’s 2018, we’re really not gonna see much of an improvement. It saddens me when I turn on the news and I see that America is yet again the country with the highest infection and death rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887194\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887194 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra: ‘As Asian Americans in this country, we’ve seen the effects of xenophobia from COVID-19 and Trump’s rhetoric when calling it the China virus.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you think politics have affected the way we’ve handled COVID-19?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unfortunate that politics have affected this [outbreak at all]. I honestly don’t know where a lot of this rhetoric came from—of people not only fearing science but also dismissing it or trying to [say] that [COVID-19] is a hoax or something made up to limit people’s freedoms. I don’t know how people are leading their daily lives who have this kind of mentality. But I would like to hope that everybody continues to stay informed and puts aside any biases, any political affiliations that we have, and takes the information that we get from scientists, doctors, the CDC as truths and guidelines to help us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Has there been a lot of pressure at work to find a vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the start of this pandemic around March, we did see a very steady incline in work at my job. At the end of March and beginning of April, my company started putting all hands on deck to help with the test kits. Now we’ve been working in collaboration with other companies and researchers in developing this vaccine. [aside postid='arts_13887076']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m definitely not here to give out promises or deadlines—I know that people are waiting for the vaccine, and I can’t blame them because the thought is very alluring. But in reality, a vaccine takes a lot of time to develop. For other infectious diseases, it’s always taken not only several years but also multiple clinical trials. And now we’re in this rush to be the first researcher, the first country to come up with a vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t want us to be in that mindset of it being a race because we don’t know what the long-term effects of this initial vaccine will be, given the short span of time that we have to develop this. I also want people to recognize that it’s not just a vaccine that’s going to help us but everybody doing our part with social distancing and wearing masks. And I hope that this will also open the window to discussion where maybe we revisit how we approach these pandemics, especially seeing the disparity in the communities of color who have contracted COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887189 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra: ‘I think the question of who’s in office shouldn’t determine the rhetoric that we use. How we treat other people. How we approach public health safety.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As an Asian American, I know you’ve been passionate about raising awareness around what’s happening in the Philippines. Do you see parallels between what’s going on abroad and the social reckoning in the States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are definitely a lot of parallels—even just with the people who hold power. Time and again people have compared [Filipino President Rodrigo] Duterte and Trump, and in terms of their leadership and their personality, I see the similarities. I’ve been following what’s going on with the terror law, and it’s scary. [Duterte introduced \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/21/893019057/why-rights-groups-worry-about-the-philippines-new-anti-terrorism-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an anti-terrorism law\u003c/a> in July that has drawn criticism from human rights groups globally.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being a Filipino in the diaspora, I know that in my community we often feel removed from what’s going on in the Philippines. But it’s important for us to recognize that what happens there still affects us. It’s really frightening to see that people’s freedom of speech and right to dissent are limited. These are very basic rights. So I hope that Filipinos living in America, who have a little more freedom, recognize this and stand up and are more vocal about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you feel that artists have a responsibility to use their platform or their work to speak up about social issues?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Absolutely. I’ve always felt that if I’m not using my platform to speak on things that I’m passionate about, or to speak on things for people who don’t have a voice, then I’m doing my platform a disservice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Asian Americans in this country, we’ve seen the effects of xenophobia from COVID-19 and Trump’s rhetoric when calling it the “China virus.” If Asian-American influencers and celebrities used their platforms to speak out against the injustices that our community faces, it would at the minimum open up discourse around it. [aside postid='arts_13880441']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’ve felt a lot of silence from the Asian American community around racial violence, and I think that bleeds into all social issues—Black Lives Matter is no different. We’ve started to see a change in the last couple months, but I hope that change persists.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I agree with you. I think the reason for the silence is probably obviously cultural factors: Being Asian American, a lot of us have this mentality to not speak out, keep our heads down and focus on our own lane. Hopefully with the xenophobia that our community has experienced, people do recognize that this discrimination happens to the Black community every single day, and that’s why things like Black Lives Matter exist. We need to build that solidarity with other communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887186\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887186 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra: ‘I want to remind people that it’s OK not to be busy. It’s OK to be still. I think the silver lining that I’ve found in all of this is to be present with my family and friends.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are some ways you protect your mental health or keep from burning out?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m not gonna lie, I myself have had bouts of anxiety and depression this year. As a performer, I saw every single show that I had [scheduled] this year completely canceled. I’ve been cooped up in my studio, haven’t had too much engagement with friends or people that I usually would see on a daily basis. After that I saw this country evolve into a greater divide. We saw a lot of protests. And now with the upcoming elections, it’s been a very heavy year. It’s important for us to protect our mental health. For those who have been impacted by COVID-19 because of the effects of the pandemic on businesses—if you’ve lost your job, or if you’re now working from home but unable to see other people, just hang in there and remember that we’re all going through it at the same time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is all new territory—especially for artists out there who are so used to being busy. I want to remind people that it’s OK not to be busy. It’s OK to be still. I think the silver lining that I’ve found in all of this is to be present with my family and friends, whether I’m having those interactions through Zoom or being with my loved ones at home. I’m still very grateful for having those interactions compared to being impacted by the pandemic in terms of my health. So at this point, I think we just need to count our blessings. It’s also important for us to check in with our friends and family, even those that we think are OK, because this pandemic has affected all of us in different ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think the question of who’s in office shouldn’t determine the rhetoric that we use. How we treat other people. How we approach public health safety. At the end of the day, we need to stop looking at these political figures as the solution to our problem, and we need to stop looking at these political figures as celebrities. I just hope we find less of a divide in this country, post-election, and that we see a lot of empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And politics aside, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic. COVID-19 hasn’t gone anywhere. And it’s really important for us to unite not just as a country but as a world. It’s important for us to celebrate our differences and to understand where people are coming from. I think there’s been a lack of empathy this year. I hope to see more of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Ruby Ibarra at her \u003ca href=\"https://www.rubyibarra.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official website\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"When she's not on the mic, Ruby Ibarra works toward developing a COVID-19 vaccine. She talks with KQED about the importance of this election. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1705020037,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":38,"wordCount":2484},"headData":{"title":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Ruby Ibarra, Rapper and COVID-19 Researcher | KQED","description":"When she's not on the mic, Ruby Ibarra works toward developing a COVID-19 vaccine. She talks with KQED about the importance of this election. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"What’s On Your Ballot?: Ruby Ibarra, Rapper and COVID-19 Researcher","datePublished":"2020-10-06T15:00:37.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-12T00:40:37.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"sticky":false,"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/arts/13887169/whats-on-your-ballot-ruby-ibarra-rapper-and-scientist","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>In 2020, the United States faces an election like no other. Citizens will vote in the midst of a global pandemic, severe climate change, an uprising for racial justice and an administration that has eroded the norms of democracy. In ‘\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/whats-on-your-ballot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">What’s on Your Ballot\u003c/a>,’ KQED checks in with ten different artists, activists and cultural figures about the issues on their minds and their hopes for the country.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">R\u003c/span>uby Ibarra makes transcending boundaries seem normal: During the day, Ibarra works at a biotech company, joining researchers around the world in the fight for a COVID-19 vaccine. Outside her 9-to-5, she’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.rubyibarra.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one of the fiercest rappers in the Bay Area\u003c/a>. In the last few years, the Filipino-American artist has gained a following for her cutting lyrics, commanding rhythmic style and multilingual approach. (Ibarra often flows between English, Tagalog and Waray, a language native to Tacloban City, her hometown in the Philippines.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond her music, Ibarra is politically active on social media, encouraging her followers to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, support the Black Lives Matter movement and speak out against repression of civil liberties in the Philippines. For Ibarra, 2020 has illustrated just how intensely this country is riddled with divisions—divisions she hopes can be broken down as we move into November and beyond.\u003cem>—Eda Yu\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"From KQED's California Voter Guide ","link1":"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/,KQED 2020 California Voter Guide: All the State Props, All the Bay Area Measures","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/10/KQED-Election-2020-Aside-CA-Voter-Guide.png"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As we head into the election, what do you make of the political climate in the United States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Especially for people in my generation, I hope that everyone’s been paying attention to what’s going on in this country—especially in terms of race relations and, more recently, how those in power are approaching this global pandemic. I hope those are factors people consider in this upcoming election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m not here to sway anybody’s vote one way or the other. It’s more important to me that everybody goes out to the polls, submits mail-in ballots, and really makes their voice heard in this upcoming election. I see this as the most important election so far in my lifetime. This year has shown how divided this country can be, and I just hope that after the election, we can find more common ground as a nation. I understand that everybody has different beliefs, especially in a melting pot like America, but I do urge people to consider the effects of our votes in a long-term sense. Whatever candidate that you choose, I hope people think about how it’s going to affect everybody else—if it’s going to drive this country into a more positive space—and not to go at it in a selfish way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s about the long-term, bigger picture consequences of what your actions are right now.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I’m not here to say that a vote is going to fix all our problems. As we’ve seen with this current president, it can even mobilize and embolden certain communities in this country that were afraid to speak up before. I just want people to consider the long-term effects of their choices.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/SCd3iSfnWSw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/SCd3iSfnWSw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>With COVID-19 and intense climate change, this year really highlighted our country’s lack of trust in science. What’s your take on that as a scientist?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honestly, how people have approached this pandemic—with people being anti-maskers or even anti-vaxxers—it’s very frustrating for me. Having a background in science, growing up loving the sciences and seeing them as [describing] how the world works, to see this much distrust now confuses me. We need to remember that this isn’t about scientists dictating how we should operate. [Believing in COVID-19] is about public health safety and whether we’re going to be stuck in this pandemic for an additional year. This is a community effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We all play a part in this pandemic, and [how we behave] will determine how long we’re gonna be in this situation: how long we’re going to be in quarantine, how much longer death rates and infection rates increase. We saw a lot of people [this year] neglecting or dismissing a lot of Dr. Fauci’s comments around how to better protect ourselves. Over and over again, I’ll advise my followers to follow \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the guidelines set by the CDC\u003c/a>. These guidelines were set in place for a reason, and wearing a mask, practicing social distancing—it’s like wearing a seatbelt. You don’t really have to do it. But at the end of the day, it is going to lower the rates of infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What is at stake if people don’t do their part to beat COVID-19?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s at stake is everybody’s lives. Everybody’s safety. Everybody’s freedom to gain any sense of normalcy again. If we continue down this route of people throwing these parties and everybody hanging out with their friends like it’s 2018, we’re really not gonna see much of an improvement. It saddens me when I turn on the news and I see that America is yet again the country with the highest infection and death rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887194\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887194 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9898-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra: ‘As Asian Americans in this country, we’ve seen the effects of xenophobia from COVID-19 and Trump’s rhetoric when calling it the China virus.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How do you think politics have affected the way we’ve handled COVID-19?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s unfortunate that politics have affected this [outbreak at all]. I honestly don’t know where a lot of this rhetoric came from—of people not only fearing science but also dismissing it or trying to [say] that [COVID-19] is a hoax or something made up to limit people’s freedoms. I don’t know how people are leading their daily lives who have this kind of mentality. But I would like to hope that everybody continues to stay informed and puts aside any biases, any political affiliations that we have, and takes the information that we get from scientists, doctors, the CDC as truths and guidelines to help us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Has there been a lot of pressure at work to find a vaccine?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the start of this pandemic around March, we did see a very steady incline in work at my job. At the end of March and beginning of April, my company started putting all hands on deck to help with the test kits. Now we’ve been working in collaboration with other companies and researchers in developing this vaccine. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13887076","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m definitely not here to give out promises or deadlines—I know that people are waiting for the vaccine, and I can’t blame them because the thought is very alluring. But in reality, a vaccine takes a lot of time to develop. For other infectious diseases, it’s always taken not only several years but also multiple clinical trials. And now we’re in this rush to be the first researcher, the first country to come up with a vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t want us to be in that mindset of it being a race because we don’t know what the long-term effects of this initial vaccine will be, given the short span of time that we have to develop this. I also want people to recognize that it’s not just a vaccine that’s going to help us but everybody doing our part with social distancing and wearing masks. And I hope that this will also open the window to discussion where maybe we revisit how we approach these pandemics, especially seeing the disparity in the communities of color who have contracted COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887189\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887189 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9871-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra: ‘I think the question of who’s in office shouldn’t determine the rhetoric that we use. How we treat other people. How we approach public health safety.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>As an Asian American, I know you’ve been passionate about raising awareness around what’s happening in the Philippines. Do you see parallels between what’s going on abroad and the social reckoning in the States today?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are definitely a lot of parallels—even just with the people who hold power. Time and again people have compared [Filipino President Rodrigo] Duterte and Trump, and in terms of their leadership and their personality, I see the similarities. I’ve been following what’s going on with the terror law, and it’s scary. [Duterte introduced \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/21/893019057/why-rights-groups-worry-about-the-philippines-new-anti-terrorism-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an anti-terrorism law\u003c/a> in July that has drawn criticism from human rights groups globally.]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being a Filipino in the diaspora, I know that in my community we often feel removed from what’s going on in the Philippines. But it’s important for us to recognize that what happens there still affects us. It’s really frightening to see that people’s freedom of speech and right to dissent are limited. These are very basic rights. So I hope that Filipinos living in America, who have a little more freedom, recognize this and stand up and are more vocal about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you feel that artists have a responsibility to use their platform or their work to speak up about social issues?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Absolutely. I’ve always felt that if I’m not using my platform to speak on things that I’m passionate about, or to speak on things for people who don’t have a voice, then I’m doing my platform a disservice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Asian Americans in this country, we’ve seen the effects of xenophobia from COVID-19 and Trump’s rhetoric when calling it the “China virus.” If Asian-American influencers and celebrities used their platforms to speak out against the injustices that our community faces, it would at the minimum open up discourse around it. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"arts_13880441","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’ve felt a lot of silence from the Asian American community around racial violence, and I think that bleeds into all social issues—Black Lives Matter is no different. We’ve started to see a change in the last couple months, but I hope that change persists.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I agree with you. I think the reason for the silence is probably obviously cultural factors: Being Asian American, a lot of us have this mentality to not speak out, keep our heads down and focus on our own lane. Hopefully with the xenophobia that our community has experienced, people do recognize that this discrimination happens to the Black community every single day, and that’s why things like Black Lives Matter exist. We need to build that solidarity with other communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13887186\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13887186 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/D7A9858-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ruby Ibarra: ‘I want to remind people that it’s OK not to be busy. It’s OK to be still. I think the silver lining that I’ve found in all of this is to be present with my family and friends.’ \u003ccite>(Estefany Gonzalez)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are some ways you protect your mental health or keep from burning out?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m not gonna lie, I myself have had bouts of anxiety and depression this year. As a performer, I saw every single show that I had [scheduled] this year completely canceled. I’ve been cooped up in my studio, haven’t had too much engagement with friends or people that I usually would see on a daily basis. After that I saw this country evolve into a greater divide. We saw a lot of protests. And now with the upcoming elections, it’s been a very heavy year. It’s important for us to protect our mental health. For those who have been impacted by COVID-19 because of the effects of the pandemic on businesses—if you’ve lost your job, or if you’re now working from home but unable to see other people, just hang in there and remember that we’re all going through it at the same time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is all new territory—especially for artists out there who are so used to being busy. I want to remind people that it’s OK not to be busy. It’s OK to be still. I think the silver lining that I’ve found in all of this is to be present with my family and friends, whether I’m having those interactions through Zoom or being with my loved ones at home. I’m still very grateful for having those interactions compared to being impacted by the pandemic in terms of my health. So at this point, I think we just need to count our blessings. It’s also important for us to check in with our friends and family, even those that we think are OK, because this pandemic has affected all of us in different ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>After the election—no matter how it goes—what are your hopes and goals for the country, and for the Bay Area?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think the question of who’s in office shouldn’t determine the rhetoric that we use. How we treat other people. How we approach public health safety. At the end of the day, we need to stop looking at these political figures as the solution to our problem, and we need to stop looking at these political figures as celebrities. I just hope we find less of a divide in this country, post-election, and that we see a lot of empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And politics aside, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic. COVID-19 hasn’t gone anywhere. And it’s really important for us to unite not just as a country but as a world. It’s important for us to celebrate our differences and to understand where people are coming from. I think there’s been a lack of empathy this year. I hope to see more of that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview was edited for length and clarity. Learn more about Ruby Ibarra at her \u003ca href=\"https://www.rubyibarra.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official website\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/arts/13887169/whats-on-your-ballot-ruby-ibarra-rapper-and-scientist","authors":["11391"],"categories":["arts_1","arts_2303","arts_835","arts_69"],"tags":["arts_4672","arts_8505","arts_2767","arts_10126","arts_11014","arts_10112","arts_10278","arts_2855","arts_831","arts_746","arts_8924","arts_12381"],"featImg":"arts_13887463","label":"arts"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. 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Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. 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But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"code-switch-life-kit":{"id":"code-switch-life-kit","title":"Code Switch / Life Kit","info":"\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"commonwealth-club":{"id":"commonwealth-club","title":"Commonwealth Club of California Podcast","info":"The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. 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